


2019 Advent Ficlet Challenge: The Next Generation

by OurImpavidHeroine



Series: The Abdication of Hou-Ting LIV or: How Wu Learned to Stop Being Foolish and Love the Detective [20]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:15:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 64,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21569764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OurImpavidHeroine/pseuds/OurImpavidHeroine
Summary: A little gift for all of my ride or die readers. You know who you are! Enjoy.
Series: The Abdication of Hou-Ting LIV or: How Wu Learned to Stop Being Foolish and Love the Detective [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/214289
Comments: 97
Kudos: 39





	1. Day One: Snowflake

"Are you sure that's enough clothing?" Sozui was frowning. "Will he be warm enough?" He peered down at his son, who obligingly kicked his legs at his father, eyes wide. They'd been the usual murky color of all newborns but were lightening into what was unmistakably his mother's pale gold. 

Meili held Lozan's foot gently as she wrestled the thick woolen snowsuit onto it. "We grew up here and managed to survive just fine, you know." She took Sozui's hand in hers and guided it over. "Here you are, just squish him inside and we'll put on his outer hat and he's good to go." She stepped back and reached down to Tarra, who was trying to pluck at the strings of her own hat, round face creased in concentration. "No, we have to leave the hat on, sugarbun. Mama knows it's hot, we'll be outside soon."

"Won't his face be cold?" Sozui's own face gentled as the baby crowed up at him, gurgling and showing off his single lower tooth. His gums were pretty red; she was guessing the one next to it would erupt at any time.

"He'll be fine." She was grateful that Tupilek was as calm about fatherhood as he was with everything else in his life. She had no idea how her sister, of all people, could put up with all of Sozui's constant nagging worry. Earlier in the week he'd made such a fuss over the simple rice porridge that LoLo was making for both Lozan and Tarra that LoLo had snapped at him, startling them all and causing Lin, thin-lipped and grim, to escort Sozui out of the kitchen. 

He needed something else to do besides worry about his wife.

"Make me a shovel, Auntie S! Make me a shovel!" Linyi ran into the room, breathless with laughter, Sayuri on her heels. "Mama! Auntie S says if I don't put my mittens on she's gonna make me a snow shovel and scoop up all the snow with my mouth!" Sayuri grabbed her by the back of her snowsuit and dangled her, making shoveling motions.

"Better put those mittens on, then." She smiled at her eldest, who wriggled out of Sayuri's arms to yank at her jacket.

"Mama, hurry up! Hurry up!"

"We have to finish getting cousin Lozan dressed, we're going out very soon."

Linyi ran to Sozui. "Uncle Zui! Hurry up!"

He smiled down at her, fumbling with one of the armholes. "Why, is the snow going somewhere?"

"Snow snow snow snow snow snow snow!" Linyi danced around the room and Tarra attempted to follow her, her lurching steps hampered by the thickness of her own snowsuit. "Mama, I can bend it, okay?"

"Outside, you know the rules." She kept herself from taking over the dressing of the baby. Sozui needed to learn.

"Let's go now!"

"Alright, you little snowball, we'll meet your mother and Uncle Zui in the park." Sayuri scooped up Tarra and settled her on her hip. "You can come too, Miss Tarralikitak, how about that?" She bestowed a particularly juicy raspberry on her niece's cheek. 

"Bah, bah," Tarra replied enthusiastically, whacking Sayuri in the chin. "Bah, bah, uhbuhbah!" 

"Well, no need to punch me over it," Sayuri laughed. "Is her sled out front?"

"Yes. Thanks, Button."

Sayuri winked at her before putting a hand to the back of Linyi's head and guiding her out the door. "All hail the conquering snowbenders, rulers of the park and avengers of their evil foes, the dirty pigeon rats!"

"Yeah, dirty pigeon rats! DIRTY PIGEON RATS!" Linyi bellowed, and she winced slightly, waiting.

"Linyi Hou-Ting! Royalty does not shout indoors," called her father from downstairs as expected, disregarding his own decree. "Dirty pigeon rats! My gracious!"

"Like that ever stopped any of you from shouting anywhere." Sozui snorted. "I think this top button thing is strangling him."

"Let me see it." She doubted it was; Lozan, unlike Tarra, was a relatively slender baby. Tarra had fat rolls on top of fat rolls, something which apparently Tupilek had had as well, according to her mother-in-law. "No, it's fine. It needs to be snug but it's not choking him." She wrapped an arm around Sozui. "He's fine, Sozui. He's just fine."

"Sorry." 

She squeezed his shoulder briefly before easing the snowsuit's thick hood over the cotton cap already tied over Lozan's head, tying the strings and chucking him under the chin. "Now you're ready to go!" 

"I...I guess I should ask Naoki again if she wants to go out." He picked up the baby and held him close to his chest.

She put a hand to his arm. "You've asked her three times already. Let's just take the baby out now, he can use the fresh air." Sozui nodded and followed her downstairs, putting Lozan into the brand new pram her father had immediately ordered the day after Naoki had arrived with him.

"Well now, isn't he snug as a bug in a rug," Papa said, coming towards them, beaming. He leaned down and kissed Lozan's cheek, chuckling as the baby kicked enthusiastically. "Oh, you're happy now, but Gumpa knows how firebenders get in the snow!" He turned to her, lowering his voice so that Sozui, struggling into his own unfamiliar winter gear, couldn't overhear. "Naoki wouldn't come?" At the single shake of her head he sighed. "Well, I can at least take her some tea."

She nodded in return as she settled on her own hat and mittens. "Alright, shall we?" She opened the door and gestured Sozui through, the tracks of Tarra's sled leading them through the snow towards the park. The waterbending snow removal teams had already been by early in the morning; the streets and sidewalks had been cleared, and of course LoLo paid extra to have their driveway cleared as well. It was still snowing, however, thick, fat flakes that spiraled down from the sky, catching in the wool of their hats and on her eyelashes and coating the landscape in a silent blanket of white.

"Have fun," Papa said, and quickly shut the door behind them. Papa had never been a particularly big fan of snow. Daddy certainly wasn't. She could have gotten Mama to come along, but they had taken Lin to run errands and most likely wouldn't be back for a few hours.

She could see, in the distance, Linyi bouncing about, trying very hard to use her bending to toss a snowball at her aunt. Sayuri was jogging slowly, towing Tarra along behind her on the sled while the baby laughed and clapped her hands, delighted with what must have felt like a great deal of speed to her. Sayuri was scatterbrained and irreverent and frequently drove her to distraction but she truly loved the girls and was always responsible with them. They, in turn, adored her, their funny Auntie that always made time to play with them. She knew Lozan would be the Firelord one day; it was important that he learn his place there in the Fire Nation Court. He'd miss out on so much over there, however; Sayuri's brilliant whimsy, Papa's benevolent imperiousness, Daddy's steadfast love, Mama's profound devotion, Tupilek's serene tenderness, the company of his cousins and Uncle Bo and Auntie Opal and Zhi and Ping when they were home. Not to mention how much she missed Naoki every single day. Which was selfish of her, she knew. But there it was.

"You're sure he isn't cold-" Sozui started, but then closed his mouth with a snap as she turned to stare at him. "I...Fishy, I don't know what's wrong with me. Of course you're sure." He closed his eyes briefly. "You've been sure of everything since you were born, I think."

She snorted at that and tucked her arm into his. "Oh, if that were only the case." He pushed the pram on, struggling a bit to get the wheels through the fresh snow. The baby goggled upwards, blinking in surprise at the whirl of snowflakes landing on his cheeks and chin, raising his hands, encased in the one-piece snowsuit, to swipe at them. "She's going to be okay, Sozui. It's not uncommon, what she's going through. I consulted with the city's best waterhealer midwife this morning and we agreed that she'd come to see her tonight to make sure there isn't anything physical going on. I don't think there is, but it's not my specialty and I want an expert. If there isn't, then I am going to pull her out of bed tomorrow. The best thing for mothers who are suffering from this is to get them out for plenty of gentle exercise, help distract them, let them get out their feelings. She's lost weight but LoLo will take care of that, we've already spoken about it." She glanced over at him and saw the slow tear making its way down and reached out to stop the pram. "Oh, Sozui. I promise you, she will be fine."

He turned to her, anguished. "This is where it started with my mother, you know. And she never got better. It was bad enough after Juziya was born, but then after she had me it just got worse and worse. She never recovered. What if Naoki never recovers either?"

She immediately put her arms around him. "It's not like that. It's my understanding that your mother suffered from her severe moods even as a girl, long before you or your sister were born. Your grandmother was questioning her ability to rule before she'd even reached her majority, yes?" At his nod she tightened her embrace. "It's not the same thing, it really isn't. Naoki isn't like your mother." 

He trembled in her arms. "But what if she is?" he whispered. She saw, over his shoulder, Linyi running their way; with a pounce, Sayuri snatched her up, tossing her up in the air, before meeting her eyes. She nodded once and then took Linyi in the opposite direction, plopping her down onto the sled behind her little sister, tugging the two of them along. Button might not always do what was expected of her and was often careless with her actions but she was kind. And not nearly as obtuse as most people assumed she was.

"She's not. I'm a healer, and you must take my word on it. I would never try to disguise the truth about someone's health." She pushed him back so she could meet his eyes, which were full of tears. "I would never lie when it came to a member of my own family, and you are a member of my family. She is not like your mother and she will be fine. She just needs to have our support in getting herself back together again." She kept his gaze before sighing. "Which is something you and I need to discuss." She briskly patted his back and withdrew, taking up the handle of the pram and expertly maneuvering it, getting it moving again against the snow.

"Discuss her health, you mean?"

"Yes, that, although I will see to that part of it." She shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "I officially took leave from the clinic yesterday. Sitiak is going to cover for me until I can return and Tupilek's going to go in part time as well. And I wired Zhi to come home. It won't get to him immediately - it usually takes time to find him in the field - but I know as soon as he gets it he will be on his way."

He took in a deep breath. "You didn't need to do that."

This time she let her annoyance show. "She's my sister. I did need to do that."

"I'm not sure how long we'll be staying."

She took a moment to regain her inner poise. She'd known Sozui since she was a small girl; she loved him and had considered him a member of the family even before he'd married her sister. It was high time, then, that she spoke to him like a brother. "That's the other thing I want to talk to you about."

He sighed. "Fishy, it's not just as simple as staying-"

She held up a hand to cut him off. "I need to say something to you, and I'd appreciate you letting me do so without interruption." At his blink of surprise she took in a breath before carrying on. "How long before you made your official engagement had your sister made it known that you were in the market for a bride?"

He stared at her, nearly stumbling over his own feet as she continued to efficiently move the pram along. "Uh, about a year. Why?"

Her daughters and sister were barely visible in the distance, easily out of earshot. Good. "The woman you were engaged to, she was from one of the best families, of course." Her smile was humorless. "I might have married a nobody for love, but I'm aware of how the system works for royalty."

"Yes, of course. Her family is very old, very respected, very close to the court." He grimaced, most likely thinking of the Agni Kai the woman's brother had insisted on when he'd broken off the engagement. 

"So it's safe to say that her being from that family and at the age that she was, she had been preparing for years to be a bride. If not a royal one then married to someone else in the nobility. The Fire Nation being what it is."

He nodded cautiously. "I think that's a pretty safe assumption, yes. As you say, the Fire Nation being what it is."

"She would have been raised to the idea that one does not marry for love, but rather for duty. As a noblewoman and wife her duties would have included providing heirs, first and foremost. Also having a well-run household, being a perfect hostess, seeing to the comfort of her spouse and children at all times." He didn't answer, but he didn't need to. They both knew she was right. "Her own wants and needs would have been immaterial; she would have been expected to be content with the success of her family. As the wife of the Crown Prince, she would have also been expected to put the needs of the nation before her own wants and needs as well. Yes?"

He glared at her, brows drawing down in annoyance. "You know that's correct."

"You didn't do that, however. Marry a Fire Nation noblewoman who was raised to be nothing more than an elevated, gracious, perfectly correct wife, mother and princess. Instead, you married for love."

He stopped then, putting his hands on his waist. "Meili, you know damned well I married for love. What are you getting at with this?"

She stopped as well and for once, let her anger show. "Because you are treating my sister like the perfect Fire Nation noblewoman bride. You are expecting her to know her place as the wife of the Crown Prince; you are expecting her to be a dutiful wife that puts your comfort before her own. You are expecting her to put the needs of your nation before her love for you and especially the love of your son. You are expecting her to give up everything in the world that she loves in order to serve your court. Her school and her home and her family? You are expecting her to renounce them without complaint for no other reason than it's what that court expects. And to be blunt, it's a load of hot, stinking badgermole shit."

He stared at her, mouth hanging open. If she hadn't been so angry she might have been amused. "Meili...I..."

She rode right over him. "If that's what you wanted from a wife, then you should have fucking well married whats-her-name and not my sister. How dare you! How dare you treat her like a one-size fits all wife? You know how she was raised, how we all were raised. You know the example she had with our parents. My father is, in so many ways, still a king, but he has never once treated Daddy or Mama the way you have been treating Naoki. And don't even get me started on your sister. I know she's still angry about that whole wedding debacle but it's been two years and she needs to let it go. Is it any wonder that Naoki doesn't want to be there with that kind of hostility? Never mind how she's treated by the nobles who took the side of your ex-fiance. How can you possibly think she wants her son raised in that kind of atmosphere?" She snapped her hand to the side in a way that was pure Beifong. "She wasn't raised to politics the way you were. She wasn't raised to any of that. Do you think she doesn't care? That it doesn't bother her? She's strong, Sozui, but she's not invincible. She's neither an impulsive nor a cruel woman, but she packed up her six month old baby and fled in the middle of the night without even leaving a note. What does that possibly tell you?" Oh, she was so angry she could hardly see straight. "And don't you dare tell me it's because she doesn't love you. You know her better than that. You of all people know how much she loves you."

"I do, you know I do." He was standing very still, watching her.

"If what you need is a dutiful wife then it would be better for everyone involved if you divorced her, married a noblewoman raised to duty, and bred more heirs that way and let my sister and her son come home." She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. "Because if you keep this up with her you'll end up with a broken shell of a woman. If you love my sister then you can't possibly tear her apart this way."

"Are you telling me this is my fault?" He was asking, not shouting, trying to understand what she was telling him, she thought. 

"Not all of it. But most of it, yes." She shook her head. "Sozui, Tupilek supports me. When he can, he does whatever necessary to help me as well as the girls, even when it might not be what he wants, even when it might make things inconvenient for him. In return, I do the same for him. That's what a marriage should be, a real marriage I mean, not a contract set up for the breeding of heirs. It's compromise, it's working it through, it's give and take. Is that really how you see her marriage to her? If it is, then you are doing a piss-poor job of it."

He hadn't looked away from her. "I don't think I've ever heard you shout before. Not like this."

"I love my sister. I would do anything for her. For my family." She closed her eyes and breathed in, focusing on the snow as it fell, letting the crystallized water soothe her, her bending sensitive to each minute bite of ice. She'd always envied the exquisite perfection of each flake as it fell, no two the same. She'd tried to cultivate that perfection in herself for so many years; it had been Tupilek, finally, who had shown her that her flaws were just as beautiful and desired as well. Naoki deserved the same in her marriage. If he could just get past his royal responsibilities she knew Sozui would be the man who gave it to her. She opened her eyes to meet his. "She's your wife, not an obligation for the sake of the Fire Nation," she said softly, and he put his head into his hands. "You have to learn how to treat her like that. Or you will lose her. Maybe not today, but sooner rather than later."

He didn't answer her, turning to take his son out of the pram, tucking him into his arms, gazing down at him. "Papa hasn't done what he should, Lozan," he murmured. "But I'll make it better, I promise." The baby smiled, deepening the dimples he'd inherited from his father, a rivulet of drool spilling down his chin. "You keep doing that, you'll get another rash."

"Rashes I can fix," she said, gently blotting at Lozan's wet chin with her mitten. 

"I don't want to lose either of them," he said, keeping his gaze on the baby. "I've never loved anybody but her."

"Well, act like it then," she replied tartly, realizing she sounded like Lin as the words left her mouth. "You can start by telling your sister to stop calling every single damn day to ask when you are returning."

His mouth twisted. "That I can do. Will do, I promise." He looked at her then and his smile, although bittersweet, appeared. "Being a pain in the ass kind of runs in the family."

"No kidding," she said, and adjusted the hood of the pram. "Come on. Let's take a walk around the park and then we'll let LoLo pour tea into all of us."

"Do you think he's still mad at me?" He settled the baby back into the pram.

"You did name the future Firelord after him. I'm pretty sure that gives you a lot of leeway." She tucked her arm back into his as he started to push again. 

"Good thing," he said, and she leaned over to lay her head against his.


	2. Day Two: Wish

"So tell me again why it is we can see these so clearly?" Sayuri gasped and pointed at the sky. "Oh! There goes another one!"

Zu burrowed in a little closer to her. They were laying together on a mattress that she had dragged from who knew where to put on the roof of her workshop, cuddled up close. "It all has to do with the apparent radiant of the meteor shower. The radiant being its celestial origin point." He pointed as well. "See how it looks like they are all originating from that point there? If the radiant point is at or below the horizon, then few if any meteors will be observed. This is because the atmosphere shields the planet from most of the debris, and only those meteors which happen to be travelling tangential to the planet's surface will be viewable." He grinned. "In other words, the radiant for this particular shower is awesome."

"I do love your pillow talk, you know," she said, kissing him. "It's not every woman who is lucky enough to be seduced by the mathematical calculations of the stars. It's damned sexy." The kissing intensified, which was more than fine with him. The night was warm, his wife was in his arms, and the stars were plummeting his way. He was, in a word, happy.

"Ooh, look, a double burst!"

He nuzzled his nose into the nape of her neck. "My grandmother always used to say that any wish you made on shooting stars would be sure to come true."

"Is that so?" Her hair was loose, writhing its sinuate way across both their shoulders to tickle at his throat. He stroked at it with his fingers. He loved those wild curls of hers. He was glad she didn't try to straighten them the way her father did.

"You've met my grandmother. Would you try to argue with her?"

"I would not."

"There it is, then."

"Hmm." She was smiling at him, her eyes mischievous. "So what would your wish be?"

He considered this for a moment. "I don't know that I have a wish at the moment. I have everything I could possibly want." He tightened his arms around her. "I'm very happy, Sayuri."

"My sumptificient, enlightened, frowzled Zu." She beamed at him.

"Frowzled? Ouch!"

"You have ink on the end of your nose," she whispered into his ear, delighted. "It's been there all night."

His hand immediately went there. "Do I! Why didn't you say something! Was it there at dinner?"

Her laughter spilled into the night. "It was! Why do you think Papa kept trying to give you discreet hints by patting at his own nose?"

He started to laugh as well. "I just thought he was coming down with a cold or something!" He held on to her as they laughed themselves silly over her dignified royal father, dabbing at his nose until his husband scowled in irritation and demanded to know what was wrong with him. She lay there, her head nestled into his armpit, never mind that she was just a little taller than he was. His own lovely, sumptificient Sayuri.

"I think you do have a wish, though," she said after they'd watched the shower for a few more minutes. "Although being Zu, you haven't wanted to say."

He squirmed just a bit. He had made a wish; he just hadn't vocalized it, although he wasn't surprised she might have figured it out. She was very observant under all of her madcap hilarity. He hadn't wanted to say anything, however, hadn't wanted it to feel like he was rushing her. They hadn't been married all that long, never mind even knowing each other. She leaned over to kiss at the offending smear of ink before settling back down.

"I went to see my sister today." A snort. "Well, I go to see her most days. I mean I went to see her in a professional capacity."

He frowned. "What do you mean? Are you not feeling well?"

She reached over to turn his head to face hers. "I feel fine. But, as I suspected, you are going to get your wish."

"My wish?" She moved in so close that he thought his eyes might start crossing.

"Your wish for a baby," she said, and smiled that luminous smile that had nearly stopped him in his tracks during their meeting at the university, almost derailing the lecture he was trying to give. His breath caught.

"A baby?"

She nodded. "That's your wish, isn't it?" His chin started to tremble and his eyes filled up as he nodded. "Well, then your wish came true. Meili confirmed it."

"Oh, Sayuri," he blubbered, not even getting his glasses out of the way before the tears burst out of him. "Oh, is it really true?"

"Yes, yes, yes," she said, and squeezed him, still smiling. "Isn't it the best thing you've ever heard? Because it's the best thing I've ever heard, I can tell you that."

He wanted to tell her that it was the best thing he'd ever heard as well, but he was too busy crying. She knew what he meant though, as she tugged off his glasses and placed them carefully aside before going in to kiss him again, this time with purpose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, I totally plagiarized Wikipedia for Zu's explanation.


	3. Day Three: The More The Merrier

There was someone on the ground, waving, and as Dolly slowly circled down the figure expanded into cousin Orchid, who called up to Goba, pointing him to a courtyard. He threw her an amused salute and gave Dolly a little yank with the reins. Bhuti peered about her with excitement, not even waiting for Dolly to land before launching herself out the saddle, the wings of her suit catching a downdraft to let her down gently. "Finally," she shouted, and grinned. It was the first year that she had been allowed to attend the Biennial Beifong Cousin Gathering, located at the old Beifong Estate in Gaoling. She was seventeen this year; Tseten had argued she was still too young but who gave a damn what he thought anyhow? He was only being pissy because at nineteen it was his first trip as well. Goba had said she was old enough to come and that was that.

There were strict rules for the gathering. For one thing, it was only held every other year, thus the name. (The three eldest Hou-Tings, for the sake of the gathering, were considered honorary Beifongs.) For another, there were no spouses, children or parents allowed. (Exceptions were made for nursing babies, of course.) For another, you had to be an adult to attend. The fourth and final rule was that What Happened At The Gathering Stayed At The Gathering. She knew this was true, for sure. She'd tried everything to get more information out of Goba, and he wouldn't budge at all. Normally she could get anything she wanted out of him, so she knew it was serious business.

"Who are we still missing?" Goba asked, Katara already helping him with Dolly's saddle. Orchid appeared from the bison's other side.

"All of the Zaofu Beifongs are here and the Republic City contingency arrived last night. Naoki's late, but she's incoming, Sozui radioed to let us know when she left. Zhi and San were out in the field and are flying in, I'm expecting them any minute. San will land the plane outside the estate walls, there's nowhere here for him to take off again."

"And Pearl?" Katara asked, tossing a bag down to Tseten.

Orchid sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fuck if I know. Fuck if any of us knows. She'll show if she shows, no point in waiting for her."

Goba just grunted at that and continued to deal with the saddle. She was guessing it wasn't the first time Pearl was a no-show, then.

Technically the Beifong Estate belonged to Untie Qi and then Sayuri but Untie had made it clear that it was for any of them to use at any time, and she knew that the Zaofu Beifongs, especially, liked to spend time there. She'd visited it once, many years ago, but hardly remembered much about it. "Orchid, can I go exploring? Or are we supposed to be somewhere?"

Orchid smiled. "Go on and explore, if you're not back by dinner I'll send someone to find you." She pointed. "That's the ancestors' shrine up there."

"Got it." She wouldn't go exploring up there, then. That was for a respectful visit. "Anything else I should know?"

"Try not to fall into any ponds," Tseten said, and snickered. She wanted to kick him. Once, she'd fallen into Uncle Wu's pond! Once! And she'd been eight years old! Let it go, already!

"Have fun, Firefly," Goba said, and winked at her. "Tseten! Look sharp!" He tossed another bag down at him, which Tseten barely caught in time.

"What, does she just get away with not having to do any work?" Tseten muttered, but she didn't care. She spun up a quick airball and took off.

She'd covered a great deal of ground as she made her way about the estate before she saw Bu coming her way, riding his own airball. "Hey-ho," he called, grinning at her. "I've been sent to bring you in. Dinner is being served."

"Is Pearl here?" she asked, zipping her way towards him. He just rolled his eyes and shrugged at that, leading her in a shortcut that crossed over one of the ornamental ponds towards the main house. They went inside and he showed her where the bathroom was, Untie Qi having installed modern plumbing way back before Sayuri was born, even. She could believe it. She couldn't imagine Uncle Wu ever going so far as to use an outhouse. Even the thought made her giggle as she was washing her hands.

She'd expected everyone to be sitting at a table inside but was more than a little surprised to find them in the middle courtyard, serving themselves up and sitting around on various cushions and such. All of them were there except for Naoki and Pearl, and everyone gave her big smiles and welcomed her. (Except for Tseten, but he could suck it, like Ba always said.) She settled down between Goba and Iris, who stopped looking like she was going to eat her for ten seconds and actually winked at her. She almost dropped her chopsticks. 

It was Orchid, to no one's surprise, who called the meeting to order. "Well, we'll go ahead and start without Naoki, she can catch up when she gets here." She didn't bother mentioning Pearl. "You okay over there, Pop-Pops?"

Poppy, who had two month old Meera in her arms, yawned. "I might not make it all the way through, I'm warning you."

"We can catch you up later, don't worry about it." Orchid replied. "Hand over the baby if you need to nap." She glanced down at a notebook in her lap before taking a swallow of wine. "First things first, grandparent report." She glanced up. "Although I guess we need Naoki for that."

"You need me for what, now?" Naoki was standing in the doorway, taking off her flight jacket, looking more than a little rumpled. "Besides my fantastic company, of course." She stretched and wandered over to the food table. 

"Nice hair," Zhi said, and laughed as she shot him the fingers before loading up her plate and going to sit next to him.

"We were going to start with the grandparent report," Orchid said. "But eat something first, you look like someone's kicked you to the moon and back."

"I think they did," Naoki shoveled in some food. "There was a storm, Hemadri had to go around, it took us way the fuck out of our way. I'm really hoping those koalasheep in the back pasture are for her because she just took one down in the time it took me to walk inside and she's heading for number two." She glanced over at Poppy. "I'm going to take a raincheck on cuddling that baby of yours, Pops. I need a nap and a shower first. And not necessarily in that order."

Poppy laughed. "Ah, she wouldn't care. I need a nap and a shower too."

Naoki swallowed. "Okay, grandparent report. I talked to Miwa before I left, and she reports all three of them are doing fine. Granny's still happily fucking around with the vegetable garden and LoLo's been busy supervising the new cook." She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Miwa better give the guy a raise." She stuffed some more food in and swallowed it down with the wine San handed her. "Thanks, San. Oh, and apparently Lin got pissed at the postman for some reason last week and called him, and I quote, a bung-sucking, dickless, fuck-faced cockthistle."

"Wow," Katara said into the silence that followed that statement, and they all started to laugh.

"What the hell is a cockthistle?" Iris asked, and they all laughed even harder. "I mean, where does she even come up with these things?"

"Cockthistle!" Sayuri sputtered, snorting away. "If Papa heard that one he'd faint for real."

"Bless her heart," Orchid said, taking out her hankie to dab at her eyes. She held up her glass. "A toast to Auntie Lin, may her profanity continue to be an inspiration to us all." Everyone raised their glass and cheered. "Okay, parent report. I'll start. But I need to top off my wine first." 

This went on for another few hours as they ate and exchanged all the latest family news, Rose taking over baby Meera when Poppy finally gave in and napped with her head in Meili's lap, covered with a blanket by Iris. They talked late into the night before finally peeling off to the various bedrooms, the airbenders being stuck into the old guesthouse to save everyone else from their snoring. She shared a room with Katara, while Bu bunked with Goba. There was a bed in their room which was for Pearl, but she never did show up. Katara told her later that Pearl had always been a hit or miss; sometimes she came late, sometimes not at all. All of the older cousins seemed to expect it, although she thought San and Bu were sad about it, nevertheless.

They didn't really do anything planned for the rest of the week. The Hou-Ting contingency borrowed the majordomo's car and drove into Gaoling itself one day to visit their Granny Chun; she and Tseten went along so they could explore around the town. There wasn't really much to see but in one shop she found a pair of beautiful wooden hairsticks that had been carved to look like tree branches, complete with carnelian berries and jade leaves, which she thought Katara would like for her next birthday. They were going to stop in Ba Sing Se for supplies on the way back home and she was pretty excited about that, although Katara hated the city and usually just stayed in the hotel. Goba had some carefully boxed paintings from Ba that he was going to drop off at the gallery where Ba sold most of his work and Da had given them a list of the things he needed, like pens and his special blue engineering paper. 

They had a lot of fun together; it wasn't all at what she had expected, thinking that it would be more like business than just the cousins hanging out. Goba had brought down some of Ba's ditchweed and one of his glass pipes and even though she didn't have any all of the older cousins kept badgering Iris until she smoked some and got very giggly, much like Ma did. Sayuri knew how to play several musical instruments and was always up for playing if anyone wanted to sing. (Anyone but Meili, that is. She was kind of known in the family for having a worse singing voice than Uncle Wu, although at least Meili didn't actually sing. Uncle Wu didn't care how badly he sang, he did it anyhow. Much to her Ba's disgust, she knew.) One night San and Zhi dragged in an old radio they found and after Sayuri fiddled with it they actually were able to pick up a jazz station all the way from Ba Sing Se (Sayuri had San metalbend antennas for it) and they all danced around the courtyard for hours, Naoki showing her some old dances that she'd learned from her parents when she was younger.

Sometimes she did feel a little wistful, however. The older cousins had so many good memories with each other, all of the fun things they had done as children in Zaofu and Republic City. She and Tseten were so much younger than the rest of them, more than Katara, even. Plus they were up north, where the family didn't visit all that often. All of the cousins were famous and accomplished in one way or the other; Naoki was the wife of the Crown Prince and the mother of the future Firelord and pretty much the best firebender in the world, Orchid was working in Auntie Nuo's presidential office and would probably be elected president sooner rather than later (Da always said that the title of president in Zaofu was just a glorified version of matriarch, but the older she got the more she'd come to understand that Da was pretty biased about Zaofu) and Meili had her Bridge Clinic and San was acknowledged as the best of them at earthbending and he and his wife Amak worked to create oases in the desert to help the people living there and of course Sayuri had her analytical engine. Goba would take over for Ma as the leader of the Northern Air Temple - everyone knew it - and Katara worked with Auntie Jinora to re-create all the historical archives destroyed by the Fire Nation armies all those years ago. Tseten, whose art style was so different than Ba's, was starting to get a reputation for his work, young as he was, and Rose's jewelry was sought after. She didn't have Iris and Poppy's smarts - she'd never make a lawyer or a businesswoman - and she wasn't interested in anything like insects the way Zhi was famous for. Even Bu was known around the world, he was one of the airbenders Auntie Jinora sent around to help identify and recruit new airbenders. Bu was good at that job, he was so nice and genuinely friendly that everyone who met him liked him, pretty much. Pearl was famous too, although hers was a little more like infamy, she supposed. Their generation's Beifong hellraiser.

But what about her? The tail end, the one everyone sort of forgot was around? She wasn't really good at anything much but airbending. She _was_ a good airbender; she'd gotten her arrows at thirteen, younger than Goba, even, younger than anyone else but Auntie Jinora. But what good was that? Ma told her that she didn't need to be in a hurry, that she'd find her own place in the world soon enough, but how was she going to do that, sitting up at the temple all the time? She loved her home, she loved her extended family, but she wasn't like Katara. Katara rarely left home, content to be there in the library that Da had built for her, with her books and scrolls and crumbling fragments of paper that were sent to her from around the world. She was different, though. She wanted to _live,_ whatever that meant. How would she know, though, if all she did was the same thing day in and day out?

It was on the last day that Bu came to talk her. She was sitting on a rock next to the pond, the top of it so flat that it had to have been done by earthbending at some point, although she wasn't sure by whom. He sat cross-legged next to her, smiling. He looked a lot like Granny when she was young, everyone in the family commented on it. He was going to be thirty-five in a few months, but he'd never married or even, as far as she knew, had had any kind of a romantic relationship. She'd asked Da about it once and he'd told her that some people were just happier on their own. She supposed Bu was one of those people.

"So," he said, and she couldn't help herself, she smiled back. That's just how it was with Bu. You had to smile back at him. "I've been thinking about something."

"Yeah?" She shifted so she could look at him properly.

"I was thinking Ginger and I could follow you all back up north. You're stopping in Ba Sing Se, right?" At her nod he returned it. "Well, I could take you and Katara straight back, I know she'd probably rather skip the city."

"I wasn't going to skip the city!"

"Right, I got you. Thing is, though, is that I was thinking I could talk to your folks about you."

"About me?" She stared at him. "What about me?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe, if you wanted to, and if your folks were okay with it, you and Sir Wigglesbottom could head up to the North Pole with me. Jinora got word of a few new airbenders up there and I was going that way anyhow. I don't see why you couldn't come with me." His eyes, the same pale green of her sister's, lit up. "If you think that might be something you'd like to do."

With a yell she threw her arms around him, almost knocking him over. Bu just laughed, however, hugging her back. "I do want it! You really mean it?"

"Sure I do. I'd love the company and I'm guessing you might be ready to get out and see a bit of the world."

"I am so ready. So very, very ready." She sat back. "Did you talk to Goba about this?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Just you. It's your decision, Bhuti. I mean, I do want to run it past your parents but I can't think your mother, especially, would be against it."

Ma wouldn't be, she knew. That's not how Ma was. Ba wouldn't mind either. Da might get a little balky - he was just like that, he'd even been worried about her coming down to Gaoling but Goba had talked him around, like he usually did - but she would deal with Da if she had to. "I want to go, I really, really do. Thank you, Bu. Really. Thank you."

He grinned at her. "Although the good news is that you're probably used to the cold, hmm?"

"I'll say," she replied, and she grinned at him in return.


	4. Day Four: Lights

She had always known how to walk silently; lessons well learned from her mother, who had done their best, as a child, to remain invisible. It had been safer for them that way. It was all a matter of the placement of your feet, the shifting of your body weight, breathing through your nose. Her mother did it without thinking, although it never hurt that they always chose fabrics that wouldn't rustle or crinkle as they moved, and that the soles of their custom-made shoes were rubber.

She remembered, as a child, stealing through the house, practicing her walk, able to get past everyone else. Never her mother, however. Her mother had an uncanny way of sensing wherever any of them were, something that she, a woman of science, a mistress of mathematical precision and rational thought, could never explain.

That's just how her QiQi was.

It was no surprise then when her mother was suddenly there next to her on the roof with no warning. "Can't sleep? Or is the baby keeping you awake?" Their voice was quiet in the dark, and she smiled. Their voice had been damaged as a child but she suspected that even without that they would have been soft-spoken. Her mother had never needed volume to make their point.

"A little of both. Although she's sleeping now." Her hand reached up to caress Star's milky sweet cheek through the fabric of the sling tying her to her chest. She leaned back a bit, knowing that her mother would be there to steady her. She always had been. Her mother's arms slid around her waist and she nestled back into them, smelling the softest hint of sandalwood and vanilla. "I know I should go back to bed but it's so beautiful tonight. And I wanted her to see the stars."

She could hear the smile in her mother's voice. "You sure it wasn't you that wanted to see the stars?"

"Maybe."

Her mother's hand crept up to cradle their granddaughter's fragile skull. "The spirit portal's been brighter lately. Korra told me she thinks something might be up."

"A bad something or a good something or a meh humans don't need to care something?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. She's planning on going in, taking a look around."

"Is Daddy going?"

"You know he doesn't like going there. She'll probably take Kai."

Star stirred in her arms, mewling a little, but settling down as QiQi's long, dexterous fingers massaged into her scalp. "I just feel restless tonight."

"You weren't made for sitting still. What if you go back to bed now and tomorrow we can take her and Radiant for a walk. Maybe head over to the bluffs, take a little picnic. If you get too tired to walk back I can borrow Wei's car."

"Are you bargaining with me?"

Her mother kissed her cheek. "It always worked when you were little. Although you always could drive a hard bargain."

She laughed and her mother chuckled with her. "I think it's inherited."

"Oh, I know it is." They were quiet for a few moments, both of them watching the spirit portal pulse and glimmer in the distance.

"Mama?"

"What is it, baby?"

"If things were to get bad here we'd leave, right? Go up to the lodge or to Zaofu? If there were really problems with the spirits, I mean."

"Baby, is there really some part of you that thinks I'd let you or those babies be in any kind of danger?"

"I guess not."

"You'd better guess not." Her mother's kiss was firmer this time. "Now you're just talking foolishness because you're tired. I'm taking you back to bed before Zu wakes up and starts banging around the house looking for you. If he woke up your father or Lin we'd never hear the end of it."

"Poor Zu. Stealth really isn't his area." 

Her mother's chuckle was fond. "He's got many, many fine qualities, but that is not one of them." 

She didn't take offense. She knew her mother adored her husband. "Okay, we can go."

Her mother didn't move, however. "How much do I love you, baby?"

Her eyes filled up. "To the moon and the stars and back." She leaned down to kiss her sleeping daughter's head. "Just like I love her."

"That's right." Her mother turned her then, gently drawing her towards the open trapdoor that led to the stairs into her workshop. "You just keep that in mind."

"I always have it in mind," she replied, and was rewarded with another kiss.


	5. Day Five: Wind

With a sigh she settled down onto the snow, her back to one of Da's windmills, the ones he'd invented when he first joined Ma and Ba up here. There'd been nothing like them in the world before he'd come up with the idea: windmills that had no blades, that stored energy from the vibrations the wind made, the straight poles quaking with the force of the drafts. He and Uncle Kwan had worked on them for over a year together, Da with his measurements and Uncle Kwan bending the metal just right into the earth to make sure they were storing the maximum amount of energy. She liked the way the vibrations felt against her spine. Her entire body would shudder with it, the wind snatching her hair out of its sticks no matter how securely she tried to pin it. 

There was something untamed up here, something that the windmills, regardless of their precision and control, couldn't contain.

Her father was a genius. He downplayed it a lot, but there was no mistaking it. She knew about his Colossus, of course, and the spirit weapon; Da never tried to deny it, although he wouldn't really talk about it. He wouldn't talk about his time in prison, either. Not even to Ma or Ba. It was hard to think of her Da spending all those years in prison, of him building things that were made to destroy instead of helping people. Ba once told her that Da had been a different man back then, that he had left the old Baatar behind, had reinvented himself.

She often mused over the concept. What would it be like to reinvent yourself? To deliberately examine yourself, find the things you wanted to change, and make that change happen? Little things, like cutting your hair or piercing your ears, or bigger ones, like moving across the world and starting a new life? What kind of courage did that take? Her parents, all three of them, had done that. For different reasons, of course. Ma had felt called, Ba had followed her for love, and Da was looking for an escape. 

Would she be able to do the same? She wasn't sure. She didn't want to, that much she knew. She loved her mountain, loved the peace here, loved her life. Her bees, her books, her work re-establishing the Air Nation's archives. She was more than satisfied with her life; more than content. She loved her life, which she'd come to realize, as she got older, wasn't something that many people could say.

They'd had a visitor to the mountain when she was sixteen, a journalist from Republic City who was looking to interview Da on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of Kuvira's attack and subsequent downfall. Da had been beyond furious, that much she remembered. Even Ma had shouted at the man, and Ma rarely shouted at anyone. In the end, Ba had told him to leave before he sent him down the mountain the hard way. The man had stuck around the village for a week or two, hoping to get something from someone, but finally left after no one would speak to him. The villagers respected Da, he'd done so much work to make improvements there, building them windmills as well and providing them with stable electricity and plumbing. He'd been the one to initiate trade with the Temple and other villages in the region as well. They weren't going to sell him out.

She'd asked Da about it, why he didn't want to talk to the journalist. Da had looked very tired, but he'd answered her. Da was always good about answering questions. _There's an old saying,_ he said, _that history is written by the winners, Katara. That man wasn't here to write about the truth. He's a journalist, he was here so he could sell a story. It wasn't about me, it was about him. It wouldn't have mattered what I had said, he would have written that story to reflect whatever he wanted it to. That's how these things work._

She'd thought about what Da had said as she went about her daily routine. How could you really know what had happened in the past if history was only written by the winners, only written by people who wanted to make themselves look good? History should be recorded as it was, good, bad or indifferent. She wanted to know what kind of things had been written about her father, but didn't know who to ask. She suspected that everyone in Da's family would only want to make Da look better than he was, that they would try and mask some of the truth, which was just as bad as what that journalist was trying to accomplish. In the end, after careful consideration, she wrote to her Auntie Jinora and told her what she was looking for and why. Auntie Jinora was an honest and honorable person, that much she knew. If anyone could help her, Auntie Jinora was the one.

A few months later, she got a large packet. Inside, Auntie Jinora had written her a letter, telling her that she had gathered copies of everything she could find. She warned her that journalism was usually biased, and that she shouldn't believe everything she read. She'd also commended her on trying to find out the truth, no matter how painful.

It had been painful, reading those things they said about her father. She had wept, many times. She'd been angry as well; her father wasn't a monster! How could people who didn't even know him say those ugly, personal things about him? In the end, though, it had only reinforced what she believed. History needed to be impartial.

The next visit she'd made to Republic City she'd sat and talked with her aunt for hours, discussing all of the archives the Fire Nation had destroyed when her great-grandfather was a boy, before he'd been locked inside that iceberg for one hundred years. Auntie Jinora told her how Aang had tried, in his way, to correct the biased information the Fire Nation had spread around the world. They were the winners; they could say whatever they wanted to say. They went through the small archive that her great-grandfather had established there on Air Temple Island. Some of it was cataloged, but most of it was still in boxes, waiting to be gone through. Auntie Jinora was the leader of the Air Nation, she really didn't have time for it, and no one else seemed to hold much of an interest, or at least not enough to do all of the work of actually creating a proper archive in the first place.

Needless to say, she and Tuuli were loaded up with the entire collection when they headed back home. Her parents had stood there, bemused, as she'd unloaded all of those boxes from Tuuli's saddle, trying to fit them into her bedroom and failing, storing them in her father's office and anywhere else she could find a space. A few months later the plans for an archival library had arrived; her grandfather had come out of retirement to design it for her at Da's request. Da had built it with so much storage and so many bookshelves that she thought they'd never be filled. _Maybe not in your lifetime,_ he'd told her, arm around her as they stood together, staring up at them. _But one day, maybe. I hope._

It was beautiful, her archive. Grampy had designed it without windows, in order to protect the older and more fragile documents, and Da had made sure that it would stay at a steady, cooler temperature to assist with preservation. Ba, who always wanted things to be colorful, had contracted with village craftsmen to do carvings along the walls and bookshelves, adding colorful glass and tile mosaics to the floors and ceilings. The office, however, had a large window that overlooked the valley below, a window that could be easily shuttered with a mechanism Da added in case she was working with something that was sensitive to light. It was all hers, that office; everyone on the mountain knew she wasn't to be disturbed there, even by her siblings. It was quiet. Tranquil. It was everything she had ever hoped for and more.

It was her life now, setting up this archive. She'd made some mistakes along the way, had done things inefficiently, had had to backtrack and start things anew. Uncle Wu, when he got news of what she was doing, made arrangements for an elderly archivist from Ba Sing Se to stay with them over the long winter, helping her get things established and teaching her how to maintain and restore ancient paper and that sort of thing. Packages started arriving from Auntie Jinora; before long, she was getting other packages as well, from Uncle Meelo and other airbenders and even random packages that would show up from people who might have found something in an unused storeroom and had sent it on for lack of a better alternative. Two years after she'd begun a young air acolyte arrived with Uncle Yung and the supply run, explaining that she wanted to help, an addition that was gravely needed and greatly appreciated.

It was very good, her life. It was meaningful. It had purpose; she was building something for the future, something that she hoped would be her legacy someday, the way the Northern Air Temple was the legacy of all three of her parents. Every morning she woke up and looked forward to the day ahead. She knew she was lucky. She hoped she didn't take it for granted.

She tilted her head up to watch her father's windmill dance and grabbed at a hairstick, smiling, as the determined wind tried to take it from her.


	6. Day Six: Angel

He was eight years old the first time he had the dream about the strange looking tree. In the dream he was walking around it, trying to figure out where he was and what it was there for, when a fox with a white patch on its chest and three tails was suddenly there, watching him. He was very curious about the tails. He'd never actually seen a fox outside of pictures in the big book of animal illustrations that had been passed down from Goba but he was relatively certain that foxes usually had only one tail. He greeted it with a polite bow and a hello - Da was a stickler for manners - but it just kept staring at him, tilting its head. He stumbled, and automatically went to brace himself against the tree and

_there's an air bison calf nuzzling his face and he's happy so happy but it can't be his because only airbenders get them and then it shifts and Granny is there and she's gently correcting his form and smiling at him and he doesn't know where they are but Uncle Wei is there too and he's laughing and ruffling his hair and it shifts again and he's in the water but it's not cold it's warm and such a bright blue he can't believe it and everything smells strange and sharp but not bad and he hears Ma laughing and when he turns it's because Ba's eyes are closed and he's smiling as well as he builds sand around her in strange shapes and he thinks no he knows that Ba loves Ma and of course he knew that because parents are supposed to love each other but he didn't really know before how much Ba loves her and the feeling coming from Ba startles him it's not a feeling that little boys feel and it pulls him right away from the tree_

he's standing there, gasping for breath and the fox is still watching him.

 _Son of the Earth,_ it said, only he realizes it is only in his head because the fox's mouth doesn't move or anything.

He bows politely again. "Hi." He thinks for a moment. "Uh...fox from the..." he looks around "...weird tree place?"

He feels amusement from it. _You are in the Spirit World, human child._

"I am?" He's very surprised by this, although he probably shouldn't be. The grass under his feet is, after all, an improbable pale purple. And there's the whole three-tailed fox thing. "I don't know how I got here."

 _You are dreaming,_ the fox replies. Its three tails are slowly wagging.

"Oh," he replies. "Your tails are very nice," he adds, because it seems polite but also because he really does think they are nice. This seems to be the right thing to say because the fox looks very pleased with itself.

 _I had only two tails when your dam first met me,_ it says. _I have learned much since then._

"My damn?" He's confused. He doesn't know why the fox is swearing at him. "My damn what?"

The fox's body ripples oddly and when it speaks he realizes it is laughing. _I meant your mother, human child._

He still doesn't understand why it's swearing about his mother but lets it go. He can ask Ma later, he doesn't want this strange fox with three tails to bite him or something. "My name is Tseten."

The fox doesn't answer that but instead trots closer, sniffing at him. _Dreamwalker, like your dam. Earthrider, like your sire._ At his confused look it clarifies. _You may come to this place. It is your legacy._

He's still not sure what that means but Ma will explain. He knows, without understanding how he knows, that Ma will know this place. "Thank you?"

_You do not need to thank me, human child. It is not of my doing._

"What's your name?" 

_Your dam referred to me as Chieko._

"But that doesn't mean it's your name though, right?" He likes word games, likes riddles, and in order to solve those you have to pay attention to what is being said and what isn't being said.

 _Clever,_ the fox says. He isn't sure if it is a compliment or not. He isn't going to ask, either. _But your own world is calling to you. Go now. We will meet again._

His eyes close involuntarily and when he opens them again it is into the dark of his own bedroom at home. He lay there for a moment, re-orienting himself, before sliding out of bed, creeping into his parents' bedroom across the hall. Ma was snoring away, with Ba to the one side of her next to the wall and Da to the other, along the edge of the bed. He wanted to talk to Ma but didn't want to wake up either Ba or Da, because both of them would be grouchy in their own way about it. He was standing there, trying to think of how he could just get to Ma, when he heard her snoring stop.

"Tseten?" Her voice was very, very quiet.

"Ma?" He was quiet in return. The covers made a noise as Ma got herself out from under them and got out of bed at the foot, putting an arm around him and guiding him into the hallway. He didn't know how Ma did it, but she always seemed to know if one of them needed her. He guessed maybe it was a mother thing.

"Is something wrong, honey? Do you feel sick?" Ma led them back into his bedroom, pressing her hand to his cheeks and forehead.

"No, Ma." He blinked a little as she turned on the light on his nightstand. "I just...I had this really weird dream."

Ma looked down at him for a very long moment. "Ah," she said, and sat down on his bed, opening her arms so he could crawl inside. "About a tree, hmm?"

"Ma! How did you know?" He burrowed his head into her chest and her arms closed around him.

"I know lots of things," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"There was a fox there with three tails!"

"Three, hmm? Well, she is coming up in the world."

He looked up at her. "Do you know that fox? They said you were my dam but I don't know why they were saying swear words about you."

Ma grinned at that. "Dam is a word we use to talk about animal mothers. Different word, said the same."

"Oh."

She pulled him down to lay with her. "I wondered if you were going to go to the Tree. Your sisters don't seem to have the right knack for it, for lack of a better word."

"But Katara is learning how to spirit walk. She can send her spirit to the Spirit World."

"Mmmmm, I know. She's an airbender, and it's a technique airbenders can learn. But she isn't there the same way I am. It's a little hard to explain but it's different."

"The fox smelled me and then said I was a dreamwalker like my dam and an earthrider like my sire."

Ma stiffened for a moment but then kissed his forehead. "Well, Ba can go to the Spirit World as well. It's very rare for earthbenders to do, although I'm pretty sure your great-grandma Toph managed it."

"Can Da go?"

Ma chuckled at that one. "No, and I very much doubt he would want to. It's not a place your Da would like very much."

"Ma, I touched that big tree and I saw weird things. I saw a air bison calf kissing me like we were special friends but that can't be true because I'm not an airbender."

"Hmm," Ma said slowly. "Well, normally air bison only bond with airbenders. But there's no law or anything." She was quiet for a little while. "Huh."

"But that hasn't happened."

"Yet," Ma said. Then she hugged him again and kissed his cheek. "You know what? I think we should get under the covers and go back to sleep. And then we can talk more about this in the morning after breakfast, you and me. What do you say?"

"You'll stay with me? What if I go back to that place when I fall asleep?"

Ma sat up and wrestled the covers from underneath them, pulling them up and settling them over the both of them after they had squirmed their way in. She turned off the lamp and put her arms around him again, snuggling him close. "If you go there then I'll follow you. Okay?"

That was okay, then. He'd always be safe with his parents, he knew that. "Okay, Ma."

"Sleep now," Ma said, and secure in her arms, he did.


	7. Day Seven: Ashes And Soot

"Thank you, that will be all, Ao." Juziya didn't look up from the paperwork on her desk, the deep crease of concentration between her brows a perfect copy of her brother's. Naoki put the tea tray down with more force than necessary and Juziya jerked her head up in surprise before her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. "Well. I see you have finally returned to us."

"Have I?" Her eyebrow soared up she stared down at her. It was the only way she could; Juziya was considerably taller than she was.

"Where is my brother?" Juziya's eyes flickered. "And the boy."

"I believe the words you wanted were and my _nephew_ ," she replied, before sitting down on a chair on the opposite side of the desk, crossing her arms. "He is your _nephew_ , Juziya."

"That is Firelord to you," Juziya gritted out and Naoki moved her hand in a sharp, dismissive gesture.

"I'm not going to play any of those bullshit rank games that get you all off over here. Not with the two of us alone in this office."

"You have been gone from my court for three months, Consort. I would not try my patience today."

She leaned forward. "I will try your patience any time I fucking well please. I am here to speak to you. We are doing this, like it or not."

"I will remind you that I am the Firelord here." Juziya's nostrils had whitened. 

"And I will remind you that I could single-handedly take down you as well as the guards you've got stationed out there. I mean. If we're going to get into a pissing contest and all."

"Is that a threat?" Juziya hands had clenched into fists.

"Don't be an asshole. For one thing, you know I don't make threats. For another, your brother would never forgive me." She sighed. This was not how she had wanted it to go. "Fuck's sake."

"Your father may have been permissive of your profanity but it has no place in this court."

"You really want to drag my father into this?" She stared at her sister-in-law incredulously. "Is that the plan here?"

Juziya lunged forward and slammed her hands on her desk. "Where is my brother?"

"He and Lozan are still with my parents."

Juziya stared at her. "You came here without them?" She sat back and scoffed. "That was his idea, not yours."

"Sure it was." She had no problem admitting this, despite what Juziya might think. She knew statecraft wasn't her strength; Sozui lived and breathed it. Of course she'd let him call the shots with that, the same way he let her do the firebending. It was a partnership, something that Juziya wouldn't know a damn thing about. "He does whatever you tell him to do. I wasn't about to let him have this conversation." A snort. "It wouldn't be a conversation. Just orders." She met the Firelord's gaze without flinching. "You won't get that from me."

"You seem to be under the mistaken impression that it matters." Juziya's mouth curled up. "This is my nation. I rule it. Not you, despite your belief to the contrary."

She threw her head back at that one, and her laugh was genuine. "You could not pay me to rule this bunch of two-headed rat vipers. If you have actually been under the impression that I want your throne then you're delusional." She pointed at her. "And don't you dare say that Sozui wants it. Don't you fucking dare."

Juziya nodded stiffly. "I know he does not."

After a moment she returned the nod and an uneasy silence fell. She glanced out the window at the ornamental gardens beyond. "I came here directly from landing but you should have had some sort of warning I was on my way. I sure as hell shouldn't have been able to take the tea tray from your servant and walk inside, even if she does know me." Juziya's mouth thinned again but she didn't answer. "Sloppy. Lord Shusake is too busy kissing ass and collecting concubines to be the head of palace security." She steepled her fingers. "He's a liability. I don't care what family he's from."

Juziya took in a long breath. "When I want your help with my court I will ask for it." Her look said she wouldn't be asking.

She shrugged. "This time me, next time an assassin."

"Yes, well, the Fire Nation would be in trouble, seeing as you have my heir hidden away from me."

"If you think I am hiding Sozui anywhere then you don't know your brother as well as you think you do."

"I wasn't talking about him."

Her fire roared within her, her _qi_ writhing with her fury. "Lozan is not your heir. Sozui is your heir. Lozan is your baby nephew. He may be Sozui's heir some day but he's not yours. Not while his father still lives." She leaned forward and smelled her own ozone. "He is not yours, Juziya. He is mine. Mine and his father's." 

"He is the Fire Nation's," Juziya spat out, heat spilling out past her carefully cultivated control.

"No. He is not." Her forehead started to throb and she breathed through it, willing her _qi_ to calm, reminding it who was in control. 

"This is exactly why I didn't want him to marry you! I knew you'd be trouble!" 

"Oh please! You were practically drooling at the idea of getting your hands on me for your brother. Actual princess? Best firebender alive?" She stood up and leaned across the desk. "Don't even try telling me anything different."

Juziya stood up as well. "When you were nineteen, perhaps, when you still had some sense of duty and decorum!"

"When I was still malleable, you mean." 

"Before you broke my brother's heart." Juziya's chest was heaving. "You shattered him, you tore him apart! Do you really think I wanted you anywhere near him after that?"

"Oh, and I suppose you're just the innocent party here, are you? I suppose none of it had to do with you and your expectations?"

Juziya threw up her hands. "Don't you dare drag me into this, Naoki. Don't you dare."

"You know how much I love him! How much I have always loved him!"

Juziya grabbed her arm and dug her nails deep into the meat of her bicep. "You took what you wanted from him whenever you had nothing better to do and then you'd move on until the next time." Naoki could feel her hand trembling. "Was it you that had to watch him try and pick himself up, over and over again? Was it you who had to listen to him cry?"

"I didn't want this." She yanked her arm out of Juziya's grip. "All of this, all your damned court, all of these vicious, hateful people. I knew if we had a child you'd try to take him over and I wasn't wrong, was I?" She took a step back. "I wanted Sozui for Sozui and the same goes for my son. My baby is not insurance for you, not a living, breathing spare for the throne. He is my son. If you want a child to raise, get your own."

Juziya's eyes narrowed. "You know that isn't possible."

"Oh, it's possible. It's just that to do it, you'd have to sacrifice who you are for the Fire Nation. And that's something you're not willing to do."

"You have no idea what you're saying to me. None." Juziya paled. "You don't know what it's like..."

"Personally? No. I don't. But I was raised by Qi so let's not pretend I don't have at least some knowledge. I know it's been difficult for you." She pointed at Juziya. "But that's just it, isn't it? You've got your line in the sand and you aren't going to marry. I respect that, I do, and fuck anyone who says differently. But because you drew that line, somebody had to do what you wouldn't. And who did that leave?" They stared at each other, two headstrong, willful women, unwilling and unable to back down. "Your grandmother did everything she did so that her children and grandchildren could marry for love or not marry at all and what did you turn around and do? Sell him off to the highest bidder for an heir. Don't you pretend it was anything else. You know he didn't love her. He didn't even really like her. He was willing to throw his entire life away for you and you were happy to let him do it so that you didn't have to. So don't come for me, Juziya. Don't stand there pretending like he isn't a Pai Sho piece you were willing to shove around the board to get what you decided the Fire Nation needed. I may have broken his heart but at least I was honest with him about why I couldn't marry him for all those years."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Juziya enunciated each word carefully before scoffing. "As usual." 

"You put him out for stud," Noaki shouted, whatever tenuous hold she had on her temper dissolving. "And now that he's bred you've got no use for him or me!"

"Don't you even talk to me about my brother," Juizya shouted in return.

"He's my husband!"

"If I had my choice he'd divorce you and send you on your way without that child!"

They both went silent at that one, staring at each other. Naoki nodded slowly, taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes. When she opened them up she had managed a veneer of calm, at least. All those long hours of training were paying off, that was for damn sure. "Well. At least you had the guts to finally admit it."

"Naoki, I didn't mean-"

She held her hand up. "You know what? Let's not do that. You meant it. We'll just leave it there." She reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a thick envelope and deliberately placed it on the desk. "As you know, when he was born I made sure Lozan got citizenship through me. As a citizen of the United Republic, you have no jurisdiction over him. Despite his citizenship here the United Republic won't extradite him. For one thing, extradition can only be done if someone has broken a law, and generally speaking they don't hold nine month old babies under arrest. For another, he is in the custody of his actual parents and even Fire Nation law recognizes that parents have rights that supersede those of aunts, regardless of royal status."

"Do not do this, Naoki. Don't force my hand this way."

She just nodded at the envelope. "You can have your lawyers read through it, of course, but my cousin Iris assures me it's cut and dried and when Iris says that you can take it to the fucking bank." She took a deep breath. "When you decide you want to actually discuss this as a sister instead of playing Firelord with me then you know where to find me." She stared at her sister-in-law for a long moment. "I am willing to compromise, Juziya. I recognize his importance to your nation. I have no desire to take his inheritance away from him. He will be the Firelord someday. But I will not have him raised here in this court by you, surrounded by people who hate me and hate his father for something that happened before he was even born. I will not be pushed into the background by you or by anyone when it comes to my son. And until you understand and acknowledge that he will not step foot in this country." She turned to walk towards the door but with a flick of her wrist sent a flash of metal to bury itself into the desk with a meaty thud. "That's from Qi. They told me to tell you that if you send anyone after us you'll get their heads back in a sack." She met Juziya's eyes one last time before nodding sharply, opening the door with a jerk and striding through, shutting it behind her.

Juziya stood behind her desk staring at the knife before letting out a single sob, putting her hand to her mouth and folding down over herself, rocking back and forth. There was no point in trying to stop Naoki from leaving; she knew it would only end in fire and her brother would never forgive her if anything happened to his wife. And despite what her sister-in-law thought, she loved her brother very, very much. Instead she shouted incoherently and shoved everything off of her desk, letting the sound of smashing porcelain and the rip of paper distract her from letting herself go up in flames or worse, start weeping.

By the time the Captain of the Palace Guard had banged on her door and come in she had regained her control, pulling the knife out of the desk. 

"Your Majesty!" The woman looked around her office. "Are you injured?"

"I was not attacked, Rui. There is no need to concern yourself. Please send someone to clean up this mess." With her head held high, the Firelord walked out, knife in hand.


	8. Day Eight: Warm Bath

She walked down the gangplank behind the rest of the passengers, staggering under the weight of all three of her bags. The crew hadn't been rude to her, not precisely; when they realized she was a waterbender who had no training on the sea, however, they lost interest in her very quickly. The rest of the passengers were adults with the exception of one very small boy. She'd tried to play with him but his mother had been standoffish for whatever reason and finally she just gave it up.

It had been a long, lonely journey.

It was cold here, despite it being late summer, the snow being a permanent thing this far south. Not too cold for her, or at least not yet. She wasn't looking forward to the winter, though, she'd heard stories. As she reached the bottom of the gangplank she glanced around, trying to get her bearings. The harbor was a large one, with at least ten other ships already docked, dockworkers moving around her with purpose. After the second one had tersely asked her to move she found a spot that looked relatively peaceful, putting her bags down and trying not to give into the sinking feeling that no one was going to meet her.

"Hey there, young lady." An older Water Tribe man, missing a tooth, wearing a badge that she thought might identify him as someone official, nodded down at her. "This is no place for you. You have folks here?" His accent was thick and a little difficult to understand.

"I'm supposed to meet someone here," she said. "They were supposed to come and get me."

"Which ship did you come from?"

"The Sea Bramble."

"Ah, sure. It's overdue by a week and a half, I'm sure your folks have been waiting." He peered about him before putting his hands to his mouth and shouting. "Iluliaq! Ho, Iluliaq!"

A tall woman, wearing the same sort of badge, her greying hair done up in braids, glanced over and held up a finger, saying something to the woman standing next to her before walking their way. "What's up?"

"This young lady just came off The Sea Bramble, says she's got folks that are supposed to come and get her."

The woman smiled at her. "Yes, the ship's late, no surprise they aren't here. No worries, we'll get ahold of your folks. Those your things?" At her nod the woman easily hoisted up all three bags and started to walk towards a building on the shore. "Come along. I'm Iluliaq, the Harbormaster here. And you are?"

"Amak."

"Welcome to the South Pole, Amak. You're Northern?"

"Yes, but I haven't lived there since I was a baby. I'm coming from the Northern Air Temple."

The woman gave a low whistle. "Well now, I didn't realize they had any waterbenders up there. That's Master Ikki and her people, right? Her Gran was famous in these parts, of course." She kicked open the door and led Amak into an office area, cheerful with warmth and light and very tidy. "Take a seat, we'll get you squared away." Dropping the bags she went and fussed with a kettle, pouring some tea and opening up a drawer to pull out some cookies. "Here you are."

She took them gratefully, nibbling at the cookie and then popping half of it in her mouth. "These are good!"

"Kelp cookies, my husband makes them. Now, who are your folks down here?"

She shook her head. "I don't have any family here. I've been accepted to study at Harbor City Academy. They were the ones that were supposed to come and fetch me."

"Oh so you're the student they've been looking out for!" She put her hands on her hips. "You're a lot younger than I thought you were going to be."

"I'm fifteen." She sat up a little straighter.

The woman merely smiled, however. "Well, you've got to be a pretty smart fifteen if you're going there, they usually don't take students until they're a bit older." She frowned absently. "I suppose I could phone them, let them know you're here..." She shrugged. "It'd probably be just as easy if I ran you over there myself. Let me find-" she was cut off as the door swung open and two people walked in; a boy a year or two younger than she was and a girl who looked to be in her late teens.

"Hey Mom, Dad sent us on with your dinner," the boy said, waving a package neatly wrapped in a bright cloth. He glanced at her and smiled, resembling the Harbormaster enough that she would have assumed he was her son without him identifying himself. "Hi."

"Ah! Perfect timing! Ulva, I've got a job for you."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Mom! I can't do it, whatever it is. I'm supposed to meet Aupti!"

"Well, she can wait for a bit, it won't kill her." 

"Moooooom!"

Her mother ignored her protests. "This here is Amak. She's going to be studying over at Harbor City Academy. Her ship was running late, so they weren't here to meet her. I want you to take the snowmobile with the sledge on the back, load up her things and run her over there." She gave the girl a piercing look. "And by that I mean, run her over there without any detours and make sure that she's escorted with her things inside to the offices, Ulva. No stopping for Aupti on the way and no leaving her in the middle of nowhere, either."

"Moooooom!"

"Can I go too?" The boy was still smiling, and his mother chucked his chin affectionately.

"You can, and you can make sure your sister drops her off properly, too."

"Mother! I don't need to be supervised by Tupilek, I can't even believe you!"

The woman snagged a set of keys off a hook on the wall and handed them to her daughter. "The more you complain the longer it's going to take. Get a move on, Ulva." Ignoring the girl's whining again she picked up Amak's bags and led them around the back of the office, dropping them onto a sort of cart with odd, triangular wheels, attached to an open sort of cross between a car and a motorcycle. A snowmobile, she knew. She'd never seen one, but her mother had talked about them. Offering her hand, woman boosted both Amak and her son into the back as her daughter climbed onto the snowmobile, starting the engine up and grumbling to herself. "Bring it back here when you're done and then you can find Aupti." She smiled at Amak and held out her hand to grasp her forearm in the traditional handshake. "It was nice meeting you, Amak. Best of luck with your studies!"

"Thank you so much for helping me," she replied, and the woman gave her a friendly little salute before heading back towards the office.

"I'm Tupilek," the boy said, plunking himself down onto the floor of the cart. "Are you from the Northern Water Tribe?"

"I'm Amak. I was born there, but my Mom and I left when I was still a baby and we did a lot of traveling while my Mom looked for work. She started working on the Northern Air Temple and that's where we've been for awhile."

"Wow! Do you know any airbenders?"

"Yeah, sure. They kind of come with the place." She grinned and he returned it.

"What about air bison?"

"Sure, plenty of them. You can't get from the Temple to the village without them."

"So you've ridden on them?" At her nod he got even more excited. "Ulva! Amak has ridden on air bison!"

"Like I care," his sister muttered, not even bothering to turn around.

"Don't mind her, she has a new girlfriend and all day it's Aupti this and Aupti that." He made loud kissing noises and fluttered his eyelashes, which made her laugh.

"Shut up, Tupilek, or I swear I'll leave you at that stupid school and you can walk home!"

She and the boy chatted as they traveled the ten minutes or so across the city to get to the school, his sister keeping the speed low within the city itself, although Tupilek assured her that snowmobiles could go a lot faster than that. He peppered her with questions about her life at the Temple, reminding her more than a little of Goba. He didn't know anyone at the school, although that wasn't surprising; the Academy, which had been founded by Master Sokka, usually only took students in their late teens, teaching them the sciences as well as advanced waterbending techniques where applicable. It was open for waterbenders from all over the world. Its sister school, the Healing Academy, had been founded by Master Waterbender Katara and was located right next to it and trained those that wanted to focus on the healing arts. Both schools offered scholarships to waterbending students who had grown up outside of the Poles. She'd assumed she'd be on a scholarship as well but Baatar had taken her and her mother aside before she left and let her know that the Beifong family would be sponsoring her as long as she was there. Her mother had cried and hugged poor Baatar; he'd turned the color of a brick and had practically run for it. She'd gotten a really nice letter from his sister-in-law, Nuo, whose idea it had been, apparently. She had wished her luck in her studies and told her that she was always welcome in Zaofu during her school breaks. She was still kind of blown away by the entire thing.

She could see the schools in the distance as they approached; quite a few large buildings surrounding a courtyard with a beautiful metal sculpture of both Sokka and Katara. Huan had told her that his grandmother had done it when the schools were founded. (She hadn't known his grandmother was also a sculptor but Huan told her that she rarely focused on anything artistic.) Ulva pulled up close to one of the buildings and stopped the snowmobile.

"Fine. She's here. You can take her in, Tupilek."

"But Mom said-"

"You can take her in! Mom said we couldn't just leave her, and I'm not leaving her!"

Tupilek sighed and helped her with her bags, insisting on taking the heaviest one by himself. "Sorry my sister's such an iceberg. She used to be really nice but I don't know, in the last year she started being a real pain in the tuchus." He led her up to a door marked HEADMISTRESS and knocked. It was answered by a pleasant looking woman, her hair ornamented with tiny purple and white shells, holding a tea cup in her hand.

"May I help you?"

"Yes ma'am. My name is Amak, and I'm supposed to start school here?"

"Oh, there you are! Your ship finally arrived!" She frowned. "They were supposed to let us know at the Harbor."

"My mother's the Harbormaster and she sent my sister and me to bring her here, Headmistress," Tupilek said cheerfully.

"Oh! Well that was considerate. Please give Iluliaq my thanks."

"Yes ma'am." He grinned at Amak. "Good luck! Maybe we'll see each other around."

"Thanks!" She waved at the boy as he jogged his way back out to the courtyard. "Sorry I'm late, Headmistress."

"Well, nothing you can do about the weather at sea, last time I checked." The headmistress smiled at her. "You look done in. Let me find someone to grab these bags and we'll go straight to your room. I can give you the tour tomorrow, you missed orientation." She saw a student passing in the hall and beckoned him over. "Chen, do me a favor and find Taktuq and have him deliver these bags? Amak here is a first year and rooming with Thoa. Second floor, he should know it. Oh! And ask him to find her key as well?"

"I'm on it." He shot a grin her way and took off.

"Right, come along. You've missed dinner, but I'll stop by the kitchen on my way back and ask them to deliver something to your room." She gave her a look as they kept walking. "I don't normally do that, but we'll just make an exception this time." She led her out the door and across towards the back of the courtyard, past another building and up to the door of a squat, three story building. "This is Seal Otter Hall, we've got ten rooms on each floor and two students in each room, both healing and sciences students mixed. First year students only, older students have their own dormitories, although some of them prefer to find their own housing in the city itself." Amak followed her up the stairs, trying not to drag her feet. She was feeling more than a little overwhelmed. The headmistress stopped at a door marked 206 and knocked. "Thoa, are you there?"

The door was opened by a rangy looking girl of about eighteen or so, with typical waterbending brown hair and skin but a pair of startling green eyes. "How-do, ma'am," she said, her accent all at once thick and twangy. "Hey now, this my new roommate? How you doin', gal?"

"Hello," she said. "I'm Amak."

"Well come on in, ya'll look like somethin' a catgator chewed up and spit out. I'm Thoa. Long trip?"

"She's come all the way from the Northern Air Temple," the Headmistress said. "Now Amak, I'll leave you to it. Taktuq is going to bring up her bags and her key, Thoa, and I'll have the kitchens bring her up some dinner. Can I get you to escort her to breakfast tomorrow morning? I'll meet you there, Amak, and we'll get you oriented then."

"You got it, ma'am." Thoa shut the door behind the headmistress and gestured around her. "Not much to see about the room. This here with the desks is the study area, and through that door is our bedroom and through that one is the washroom." She walked through the bedroom door. "Figured you was comin', so I went ahead and made your bed for you. Hope that one's okay. I'm partial to the window, s'why I picked that bed for myself."

"That's fine, truly. And thank you for making it."

"Well now, never hurt a body to be friendly. Or at least that's how I was raised. I'm from the Foggy Swamp my own self, here to study biology."

"I'm for engineering."

"Oh, one of them smart ones, huh?" The girl grinned. "I guess we're all smart here." She watched her for a moment. "Ya'll...ya'll don't have a problem sharin' a room with a swamp girl, do ya?"

Amak blinked. "Why would I?"

"Well, that'd be the question. Been here two weeks and some folks don't seem to be all that welcoming."

"I don't have a problem with it." She shrugged. "I've always wished I could visit, actually."

"Well, now. Guess I'll have to tell you all about it." Thoa smoothed down the already smooth blankets of her bed. "Feelin' a bit homesick, truth be told."

"Yeah, me too." They exchanged a smile.

"Say, listen. Afore you knocked on my door I was about to get in the bath. They got these big old tubs here, I been taking a bath every night, don't got nothing like it back home. Ya'll want it instead of me? You're the one that's been travelin'. It's all ready to go. If you want it."

"I have not had a bath since I left home, just these awful lukewarm short showers on the ship." Her smile broadened. "You sure?"

"Gal, I'm sure as sure can be. Ya'll go take your bath, when you're done they'll hopefully have brought your things and some dinner. Sound good?"

"It sounds great, Thoa." 

"Well then, welcome to the South Pole. I reckon we're gonna be friends, yeah?"

"Yeah," she replied, and gleefully kicked off her boots.


	9. Day Nine: Festive

She wobbled, just slightly, as she made her descent out of the dance; nothing that the festival-goers would notice but of course the other airbenders would. Her face burned. Her Dad smiled at her as his own feet touched ground, the new blue ink of his arrows gleaming off of his shaven skull. It had taken Dad over twenty years to get his tattoos but he wasn't bothered by it. _Sure and steady wins the race,_ he always said, and he'd just kept up with it, never seeming to mind that it went slower for him than for others. The look on Auntie Ikki's face when they had his mastery ceremony last month had been so proud and so happy, and Mom? Oh, Mom just sat there, watching him, surprising everyone in the temple when she started crying towards the end. Auntie Ikki had been so startled that she stopped right there and asked Mom if she was okay; Mom had waved her off and told her to carry on but Dad had gone to her and given her a big kiss before going back to Auntie Ikki and had made everyone, including Mom, laugh.

It struck her for the first time that day, watching her parents, how much they _liked_ each other. That they loved each other, she knew; hadn't they been together all these years? And she had seven brothers and sisters, after all. But she had never really understood what good friends they were as well. She had been thinking it over ever since.

"Great job, Hua," Goba said, grinning at her as he grabbed at her little brother Namsun, who was blowing Tseten's hair all over the place as Tseten tried to retaliate with a rock. "Hey now, none of that you two! Especially not in the middle of town."

"He started it," Namsun said, lower lip poking out.

"Did not!"

"Well, I'm the one stopping it," Goba said firmly, giving them both a look, complete with the single raised eyebrow he'd learned from his Da. "I mean it. Enough." He caught her eye and rolled his eyes as if to say, _Kids, what do you do?_

She was trying to think of something witty to say, something effortless and sparkling, but right at that moment Kelden arrived and Goba turned to greet her with a kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist, gently moving a wide swath of her tiny braids out of his way so he could pull her close.

It would be so easy to hate Kelden; she was petite, with the same warm brown skin and black hair that Goba had, her dark eyes friendly and her cheeks a rosy color. Her smile was sweet and she sang like a bird, her movements graceful, her laughter frequent. She was deeply kind and although her family ran the village bakery she had dedicated herself to the healing arts, apprenticing with the local midwife, assisting her with childbirth and the care of mothers and their babies. She was open and caring and genuine. She was, in a word, beautiful, inside and out. 

It was no wonder Goba loved her. Why wouldn't he? Everyone liked Kelden. Even she liked Kelden, as jealous as she was of her. She was nothing like Kelden, nothing at all. She had her mother's build, all broad shoulders and sturdy frame, with a set of hips and full breasts, even at sixteen. Her coloring was all her father's, though, nondescript sandy and brown and green, with a spray of freckles across her nose that she'd give anything to get rid of. She wasn't pretty, she wasn't brilliant or witty or even an amazing airbender or anything else that might stand out. She was just average in every single way.

She hated herself and she knew, without needing to be told, that Goba could never possibly love her.

It had all come to a head for her about two months prior, helping her mother in the kitchen, goaded past endurance at the sight of Kelden up visiting, sitting at the table with Goba's Ma and Da and his siblings, already so comfortable with them. They all seemed to accept her and to love her like everyone else did. There Hua was, frizzy hair bundled up in a scarf, apron tied on, working with Mom in the kitchen, a huge zit on her nose, unlovable in every single way. She wanted to absolutely die of misery. She mumbled something about how Goba could never be interested in her with Kelden around, not meaning to be overheard, but her mother's sharp ears heard everything, as usual.

"I'd hope not, you're sixteen. He's too old for you."

She'd thrown down the big wooden spoon she'd been using and rushed out of the galley, trying to hold back her tears until she got to her room, where she threw herself on her bed, sobbing. A few moments later her mother came in and sat on the bed beside her, her large hand rubbing at her back. Her mother sighed.

"Damn it, Hua, I shouldn't have said that, I hurt your feelings. I'm sorry."

"He thinks I'm a child," she wailed, and her mother gently moved her head so she was facing her. 

"You are a child," her mother replied. "And he's used to thinking of you that way. I know it hurts, but it's a good thing. You're too young for him. He's got a lot riding on him, does our Goba, and the last thing he needs to be worrying about is a lovesick teenager." Her mother watched her face and sighed again. "Ah, I'm sorry, I'm no good at this. Your father's always been better at comforting you kids, it's just not my area. I know it hurts, though."

"I bet he'd love me if I were more like Kelden!"

"Well, you aren't. You're our Hua, and that's how we love you. You don't need to make yourself into someone you're not for love, do you hear me? Never do that. Nobody's worth that, nobody. Believe me on this one if you won't take my advice on anything else."

She'd sobbed even more then, letting her mother scoop her up and hold her in her arms, continuing to rub her back. It was true, what Mom said; it had always been Dad who had listened to their little troubles, who had bandaged up the scrapes to their skin or their pride, who had showered them with open affection and hugs. Mom was always so blunt and no-nonsense about things, and it rarely made any of her children feel better about what troubled them. It didn't mean Mom didn't love them, however. She knew Mom did.

Two days later Mom and Dad and Auntie Ikki had sat her down and told her that after the Festival she and Kaba would be following Dad and Uncle Kwan to their annual supply run to Ba Sing Se; Kai, one of the airbenders from Air Temple Island, would meet her there and escort her back down to Republic City. _It's time you took to wing and flew away_ , Auntie Ikki had said, smiling. _You're an airbender, after all._

 _You can't change if you stay here,_ Mom had said, and it was in that moment that she realized that Mom really did understand her.

"So you'll be leaving us soon." She turned, surprised, to see Kelden standing there, smiling up at her. "You must be so excited."

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I'm ready. We're leaving next week." She shrugged, trying to appear casual. Truth be told, she was so excited she was having a hard time sleeping. Kelden just watched her for a moment, still smiling, before linking her arm in hers the way they did in the village, moving her along before she'd even realized what was happening.

"You know, we don't really know anything about the airbenders that lived up here, once upon a time. Just the things that our grandparents' grandparents told them, and they'd gotten that from their own grandparents. It's been over two hundred years since they were wiped out, of course, and even at that they used to keep themselves apart from the villages." Kelden glanced up at her. "They were self-sufficient in those days, they really didn't need anything from us."

"Sure." 

"But we do know that they were called the Air Nomads and that they traveled a lot. To the other temples, or so Goba tells me, but also around the world. They didn't like to be tied down, those old airbenders."

She nodded; this was all stuff they had learned as kids from the books that Auntie Ikki's mother had sent up for them that Uncle Tadayo taught them.

Kelden gestured around them. "I was born in this village, as was everyone in my family for who knows how many generations. Just like them, I'll die here as well. Oh sure, I might travel to another nearby village for a festival or something, but this valley is my home. That's just how it is for us." Another smile. "I don't mind it, you know. A few of us get wanderlust, and a rare one or two actually up and leave, most to never return. But that's not me. I love my life here, and one day I hope to be the village midwife."

She nodded again, although she wasn't sure why Kelden was telling her all of this. "Uh huh."

"It's hard sometimes, though, living in a village this small. It doesn't allow much room for change."

"That's what my Mom says too."

"She's from a small village in the west, right?" At her nod, Kelden continued. "So she'd know." She waved at a passing woman and briefly asked her a question about her pregnancy; the woman assured her that she wasn't having any more dizzy spells and went on her way. Kelden turned her attention back to her. "Goba changed, in those three years he was away. He wasn't the same person he was when he left." She laughed. "Well, he was the same person in many ways, of course. Same humor, same sense of responsibility, same caring nature. But he'd matured and his outlook on life and the people in it had broadened. It was a good thing for him, even though I think it was hard on his parents when he was gone, they depend a lot on him. I think it's why he was only gone for three years, as well. Usually airbenders go off a lot longer than that, or so I'm told." She squeezed Hua's arm. "But even just those few years away made him more attractive, or at least to me. He grew up, went from being a boy to a man. It made me realize how I really felt about him when he returned."

Great, like she wanted to discuss Goba and Kelden's attraction to each other. "Sure."

"You're sixteen now, right? You're going to do and see a lot in your years away, things that will change you. It's an amazing thing. I may not want to leave the village, but I'm still envious of those experiences I know you'll have." She blinked. Was Kelden saying she was jealous of her? She didn't know what to say about that. "You'll come back to us a woman, and won't that be interesting?" They walked on for a bit, one of Kelden's many cousins rushing past, hurrying to make it in time to sign up for the strength competition, probably. She wasn't sure why anyone bothered; Uncle Kwan always won. Nobody else even came close to being his size. 

"Yeah, I guess I'll change some."

Kelden nodded as they wandered down the path towards the river that meandered its way through the valley. "I think you'll find that when you do return, Goba will probably see you in a new way as well. Not only as a woman, but as a woman who has broadened her mind and her experiences."

She sucked in a breath; had Kelden noticed how she felt about him? She'd tried to hide it from everybody! "Um...I guess."

"You won't be a little girl to him always, Hua. And going away will absolutely see to that, I promise you."

She stopped walking then, to stare at Kelden. "But he's your boyfriend," she blurted out, and Kelden smiled.

"He is, yes. He's also an airbender. They never got married back in the day, you know?" She scoffed at herself. "Of course you know, silly question. The point being, airbenders never like to be tied down. A cultural thing, I think, but also something within them, something that their bending brings out. Your bending."

She thought about this for a moment, before answering slowly. "I guess that's true. The same way that Mom and Uncle Kwan are so rooted. Uncle Huan traveled with Auntie Ikki for a time, but he seems to be an exception to a lot of earthbenders, or at least that's what Mom says."

"Yes, I think Uncle Huan is different in many respects. But Goba, he's a true airbender, and as such, he doesn't like to be tethered to anything, and that includes a relationship." Kelden laughed. "Something which I understand about him. I would never try to change that. It would be truly terrible for him, to try and go against his own nature just because I demanded it of him." She glanced at Hua. "I love him," she said simply. "I could never stand to see him unhappy because he was trying to fit into another culture or way of being."

"You...you really feel that way?"

"Oh, I do. I may not have traveled the world but that doesn't mean that my mind is closed off." Kelden turned serious. "Hua, it's none of my business, but I hope you won't live these years away from the temple for Goba. I hope you live them for yourself, that you are open to any and all new experiences, and that includes, when you are ready, sexual ones. You shouldn't feel like you were somehow cheating on him, because you wouldn't be. Do this for you. He'll be here when you get back. You may find that you've changed enough that he won't be of interest of you any longer. But if you still have feelings for him, here he'll be. Denying yourself your own life for a few years won't change any of that. It will only take away from your experiences and I hope you won't do that. Don't squander away your choices for him. He'd hate that, I can promise you."

She didn't really say anything to that, just thinking it over, and Kelden let her, continuing to walk them slowly along the path. She knew what Kelden was saying, understood it, even. She wasn't sure if she could do it when it came to the sex part, though. But like Mom always said, today was for worrying about today, not tomorrow. She guessed that she could cross that bridge if she ever came to it. Not that she thought anyone was going to be in line for a chance in boring old plain Hua's bed! But she could live her life for her. That she could manage.

"Well, there you are!" She jerked her head up as Goba approached them. "The strength competition is starting. You don't want to miss Uncle Kwan annihilating everyone else for the umpteenth time, do you?" He laughed. "I really don't know why they bother. Every year he tries to politely decline but they always insist."

"He's the pride of the village," Kelden said, laughing as well. "You can't expect them not to put their best asset forward when it comes to the rest of the valley, do you?"

"It makes for terrible betting," he replied, neatly stepping into the middle of them, taking each of their arms, leading them back towards the town square. "I mean, who would wager against him? Just look at him!"

"My mother says one of these days she's going to go up against him," she found herself saying, and was rewarded with a laugh.

"Now that's something I'd pay to see!" Goba grinned at her. "I'm going to miss you when you're away, Hua. You'll write, won't you? Tell us how you're doing?"

"When I have time," she replied, and Kelden nodded at her with a little approving smile.


	10. Day Ten: Once A Year

"I hate this stupid party, I hate this stupid party," Sayuri muttered, scowling to herself. Papa had pomaded her hair until it was much darker and shiny and made it as straight as he could and then parted it in the middle and wrapped it all around a big black comb on top of her head and pinned in fresh flowers and tassels and little jeweled badgermoles and she loathed it, it was heavy and everything was poking into her scalp. (Although she liked the way the yellow tassels floated around when she shook her head.) The theme for this year's Flowering Blossom Ball was One Hundred Years In The Past or something excruciatingly silly like that and so she and Meili had to wear all of these old fashioned dresses and it was the worst thing ever ever _ever_. Especially because Meili looked so beautiful even in of all the old fashioned clothes that it was like she was a big old flower and everyone else at the party were bumblebees. Which just went to show you how brainless people could be. Especially because at ten years old she already knew that no one was ever going to follow _her_ around like that.

It hurt her feelings.

Her tutor Mathuram said that scientists had no place for feelings, though. Instead, they had to theorize based on rational information and come to a well-supported conclusion.

So this was hers about the hideously dull Flower Blossom Ball:

**Step 1: Ask a question.**

Is the Flowering Blossom Ball any fun at all?

**Step 2: Do background research.**

All current and former Hou-Ting attendees (except for Meili, why bother?) have been asked if it was any fun and all of them said no, including Papa! Naoki said it was a load of sweaty hogmonkey nuts. None of the cousins had to go even though they were Beifongs and Beifongs were first tier nobility because her aunties and uncles thought it was dumb too and that was _not fair at all._

**Step 3: Construct a hypothesis.**

No one actually has fun at this Ball (especially princesses). 

**Step 4: Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment.**

Hmmm. She'd have to work on this one. To that extent, she hopped off of her chair and looked around the ballroom. Most of the rest of the kids were either dancing, like her sister, or standing around in little groups with their useless fans, acting like they were better than everyone else. She had had a fan but in the car on the way over from the hotel Papa got wise to her and demanded she show him what was in her pockets and then he yelled at her! As if she'd actually use the war fan on someone! She wasn't going to use it use it, just maybe wave it around and look like she _wanted_ to use it, like QiQi always did. But no, Papa was a party pooper and he took away everything, including her little notebook and pen! How was she supposed to record her data without that?

Oh no! Tactical error! Lady Feiyan saw her move and came practically running up to her.

"Princess Sayuri! You are simply a vision this evening!"

"A vision of what?"

"Ah...er..." Lady Feiyan laughed a little, whipping out her fan, which had these sort of blobby wishy-washy flowers painted on it. What was the point of that? Have flowers or not, but make a decision about it. "The princess does love her little jokes."

"Lady Feiyan, would you perchance happen to have some paper and a pen that I might borrow for a short time?" GrandLo told her that you always got more flies with honey rather than vinegar which she always thought was a really weird thing to say but Daddy explained it to her last week and then it made sense. She thought Lady Feiyan was a honey person, _for sure._

"Oh! Why, certainly, Princess." Lady Feiyan stood there for a moment. "Er...does the Princess need it for something specific?" She did not answer. For one thing, because that's what QiQi did whenever they thought a question was ridiculous but also what Papa did whenever he didn't want to actually answer somebody. Papa just pretended like he had not heard you even though of course he did. He did that a lot when Daddy got suspicious at him and yelled _Wu, what the hell are you up to now?_ Lady Feiyan stood there for a long moment before smiling that nervous smile again. "Well, I am sure the Princess has something important in mind. I'll be back in just a tick!"

Excellent. As she waited, she peered about the ballroom again. There was one short, chubby boy with glasses who had been sitting behind one of the big marble pillars, eating cake. He was on his third piece, she thought. Or maybe his fourth. She'd been watching him for awhile. She thought one of his older brothers might be the one currently dancing with her sister. They'd been introduced around when they first came but she hadn't been paying attention, she was still too mad that Papa stole her fan. (Well, it was QiQi's fan, really, but why split hairs, as GrandLo always said.) Besides, Meili always remembered that stuff, as it was she already remembered the names of most of the people from last year and greeted them all in her pretty, pretty princess voice.

She waited, watching the boy, until Lady Feiyan came back with a pink notebook that had smiling dolls printed on the cover (ugh) and a pen with blue ink which she supposed would have to do. (Orange ink would be better, but beggars couldn't be choosers, as Daddy always said and she guessed Daddy would actually know.) She thanked her and then took off for the boy, leaving Lady Feiyan in the dust before she started telling her again how she was some twenty-fifth cousin fifty-nine times removed of Papa and who cared about that? Not even Meili cared about that. She marched up to him and noticed, right away, that he had a blob of frosting on the lapel of his old fashioned robes.

"Hello."

He blinked up at her through his glasses. They seemed very smudged. Papa hated when his lenses got smudged, he'd stop everything to clean them with a special hankie he kept in his pocket just for that. "Er...hello?"

"I am conducting a scientific experiment and would like your input, please."

He sat up a little straighter. "What kind of experiment?"

"It is for science. Now, tell me, how old are you?"

"I'm nine. How old are you?"

She frowned at him. "That isn't pertinent to the experiment at hand."

He nodded slowly. "Okay."

She shut her mouth on the argument she was preparing but then didn't know what to say. "Do you know you have frosting on your lapel?"

He sighed very sadly. "Oh no. Grandmother won't be pleased. She says that wolfbats have better manners than me."

"I don't think that's true at all. Has your grandmother ever met a wolfbat in person?"

He thought on this a moment. "I don't think so?"

"Well then she is talking out of her ass. Now tell me, for the sake of science, are you having fun at this party?"

"No, I am not." He said this very firmly and pushed his glasses back up his nose. His hair was also sticking up in the back but she thought she would not mention it in case they got distracted from science again. "Although the cake is pretty good." He looked down at the plate he was still holding. "Do you want to taste?" He held his plate out to her. 

"Hmmm. Well, I suppose." She took a bite. "It's pretty good." She took another bite and he just handed her over the entire plate.

"I want to be an astronomer when I grow up." He kicked his heels into the chair rungs. 

"An astronomer? Like, being born in the year of the dragon or something?" 

His brows went all slanty. "Not an astrologer! An _astronomer_!" When she didn't say anything he frowned even more. "I mean I would study the stars in the sky. But the real ones, not the kind that are supposed to tell you when to get married. Like, so we could learn what stars and planets are made of, that kind of thing." He smiled suddenly, and his eyes crinkled up. "You know, with telescopes."

"Oh, okay! Once my Papa took me to look through a really big telescope at the university. I could see the moon like it was next door!"

He bounced in his seat. "I want to get one for myself! I keep asking for my birthday. A really good one, like a Zhanjing telescope."

"Zhanjing?"

He nodded. "They're the best."

She discarded the empty plate into one of the potted plants and took up the pen to write that name down in the notebook. "But back to my experiment. I would like to make a scene and see if anyone has more fun doing that than being at this party."

"Hmmm." He seemed doubtful. "But what is your hypothesis? That no one is having fun?"

She beamed at him. "Yes, that exactly."

"So what kind of scene do you think you want to make?"

She tapped the pen on her lower lip. "I'm not sure yet." They both thought about this for a minute as she kept tap-tapping away.

"You could yell fire and see if people ran out?" He was trying to wipe off the frosting on his lapel but was only making a bigger mess of it.

"I guess. But then they'd just be scared."

"True." They continued to think on it.

"What if you told them that there was something exciting happening somewhere else in the palace?" The boy was smiling again. She liked the way his eyes crinkled up when he did it. He stood up and promptly stepped on the hem of his long robe, followed by a loud ripping sound. "Oh no," he said, looking down. "I ripped it, didn't I?"

She peered around his feet, seeing a section of torn silk. "Yeah, right there."

Another one of those mournful sighs. "Oh, Grandmother will be really angry this time."

"Just tell her that one of the girls started to faint and you jumped in there to save her before she hit the floor and that's how it happened."

His eyes widened. "Oh!" He started to giggle. "I'm not sure if she would believe me."

"You just have to say it like it was true, that's all." She put on her best lying face, the one that made her look like she was really, really telling the truth. "Grandmother, I'm very dreadfully sorry about the hem but I wasn't paying attention to where I was stepping, I was trying to make sure that Lady Lin didn't hurt herself when she fell. I'll try harder next time to watch where I put my feet."

He was gazing at her with respect. "That was very good. Anyone would believe you."

"Of course they would. They believe me all the time at home. I learned from my grandfather. He's the best at telling fibs." Well, her mother never believed her, but then again she never tried any whoppers on her mother. She knew better than that. "Okay, now you try it."

He screwed up his face in concentration. "Grandmother, I'm very dreadfully sorry about the hem but I wasn't paying attention to where I was stepping, I was trying to make sure that Lady Lin...wait, which one of them is Lady Lin?" He looked around the ballroom.

"Lady Lin is my grandmother, of course. But your grandmother doesn't know that, does she?"

"No, she does not!"

"Okay, do it again. But don't make your voice all high and squeaky, then everyone will know you're fibbing." She made him practice several more times until he was convincing. He was funny, this boy. She liked him. He had shining, dark brown eyes. Not quite as dark as her Auntie Nuo - her eyes were so black it was hard to see the pupils, sometimes - but a nice color, like the polished wood of the steering wheel of her mother's car. 

Those brown eyes went huge behind his glasses. "Oh! I have an idea! This palace has a dungeon, right?"

"Oh sure. My Daddy once was imprisoned there. With my uncle. They got out though, when the Red Lotus attacked, my Uncle Bo told me all about it."

His mouth dropped open and he stared at her for a long moment. "Are you fibbing?"

"Hmm? Oh no, not this time. That really happened. I want to visit down there but my Papa won't take me. He says that it would be best for everyone involved if the whole palace were just earthbent into rubble. He's very cranky about it. But I'd still like to see the dungeon."

"Me, too." They both mused upon this before the boy hiked his robes up to his calves and strode off. "Don't go anywhere," he said over his shoulder before making his way across the floor to a bigger boy, who was wearing a very absurd looking hat. If that was the kind of hat they'd had to wear one hundred years ago then no thank you. The boy spoke to the older boy and then made his way back to her, grinning. "That's my brother Ning. He's a total blabbermouth, he can't keep a secret at all. Ever." They watched as the boy went up to a group of other children, pulling them in close and saying something to them. "He's telling them what I told him, that I saw some other kids go sneak through a hidden entrance down to the dungeon for a secret party down there. I told him he couldn't tell anyone, which means that he would immediately go and tattle. That's what he does. He's a sneak."

Her mouth dropped open. "That's amazing! What a whopper! Even my GrandLo would be impressed!" She patted his back enthusiastically.

He blushed a little. "Thank you." They stood there together, watching as several other attendees made their way through the room, whispering to others. Older brother Ning really _was_ a tattletale, wasn't he? He was telling _everyone_. As they continued watching, they could see some of the other guests doing their best to discreetly slip out of the ballroom, most likely looking for a way down to the dungeon. She pulled out her notebook and started writing it down.

**Step 5: Analyze the data and draw a conclusion.**

She glanced around the room, quickly counting, writing it into her notebook. Approximately thirty-five percent of the attendees had disappeared so far. Most of those that were left in the ballroom were either trying to escape (like the two girls in the corner who obviously thought there was a door there but too bad so sad for them, there was just another extra large potted plant) or were, possibly, too scared to try. She should really try to interview some of them to be sure but couldn't think of a way to do it without alerting her sister. Meili would notice _for sure_ if she was walking around the room with a notebook, talking to people. Meili was not dumb at all and she usually assumed everything that went wrong was Sayuri's fault. (She was usually right, of course, but it was still _dreadfully rude_ of her to think it.) 

"Do you know that girl in the blue dress?" The boy was edging behind the pillar. "She looks angry." He tilted his head and she followed where he was pointing.

"Oh balls!" She shoved the notebook and pen into his hands. "That's my sister! Quick, hide! Hide!"

His mouth formed a perfectly round O but he immediately went behind the pillar, and crouching low, skittered behind another potted plant, disappearing from sight. He was very good at it. She would bet it had something to do with tattletale brother Ning. 

She looked up and met her sister's suspicious glare, putting on her best smile. "Top of the evening to you, Fishy!"

Meili's eyebrow shot all the way up. "Would you happen to know anything about this rumor going around that there is some sort of alternative party in the dungeon?"

She blinked. "I don't think there's a party in the dungeon. Papa said they were all closed off down there so people would leave them alone."

"You would ask that, wouldn't you?" Meili put her hands to her hips. "Did you tell people about this?"

She shook her head. "I didn't tell anyone." Well, it was only the truth. It had been the _boy_ who had told them, after all. It had even been his idea! He was a very agreeable boy. She hoped he would get his nice telescope for his birthday. A flicker of green caught her eye; he had managed to get past several potted plants and was strolling along the side of the room like he had been there all night. He was very sneaky! She approved.

"Sayuri..."

"I did not tell that rumor to anyone." She met her sister's eyes and put her hand to her heart. "I swear it upon Grandmother Meili's grave." 

Meili sighed. "Fine. But I'm sure you had something to do with it."

She didn't bothering answering that, but then again, she figured she didn't need to. "How much longer until it's over?" She tried to look for the boy but didn't see him.

"Another two hours or so," Meili said, and frowned.

"It's going to last _forever_." She flung herself down in the chair.

"Did you get some cake?"

"Sort of."

**Step 6: Share your results.**

Meili sat down next to her. "Not much longer, Button. And in any case, this will probably be your last time."

She turned and stared at her sister. "How come? They aren't going to have it next year?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll have it." Meili's mouth went all sour, like she had just bitten a lemon. "Spirits forfend we don't get dressed up and get paraded around like prize hippo cows."

"Don't...don't you like this party?" She couldn't quite believe it.

"No. I don't."

She sat back, quite genuinely astonished. Fishy didn't like the party? "But I don't understand. You always look so pretty and everyone always wants to talk and dance with you." Meili looked down at her. "Nobody ever wants to talk or dance with me." Well, except for that boy, he didn't seem to mind talking to her. Where was he? Come to think of it, she didn't see tattletale Ning, either. Or the really older boy that had been dancing with Meili.

Meili snorted. "None of those people want to get to know me. The only reason they bother with me is because I'm a princess."

"And pretty." Meili was the prettiest girl in the whole room. Her sister might be a real pain in her ass, but she'd fight anybody who said she wasn't the prettiest. She'd stick them with _a fan_.

"Oh yes, let's not forget that I'm pretty." Meili's voice was all lemon-sour now.

"But don't you want to be pretty? I wish I was pretty like you."

Meili reached over to smooth down one of her curls that was escaping. "Button, you're pretty enough. And no, to answer your question, I don't want to be pretty. That's all people think of me. Do you think any of those boys asking me to dance tonight cared about what I thought about things? Or cared about my waterbending or my healing or any of the other things that're important to me? All they can ever say to me is how pretty I am, like I'm so shallow that all I could ever possibly care about is some accident of nature that made my face look like this? As if I haven't heard it all before." Meili's chin trembled slightly and Sayuri was so shocked she didn't know what to say. "I'm more than my face but most people never bother to get past it."

She reached over and entangled her fingers with her sister's and they sat there, quiet for a time, while Meili took several deep breaths and sat up straight again, looking like Princess Meili once more. "How come we won't come next year?"

Meili smiled at her. "I'm going down to the South Pole to study, remember? Mama won't let Papa send you here alone, I can guarantee it."

She stared at her sister and her eyes filled up. "But...won't you come home for parties? What about my birthday?"

Meili's voice was gentle, and she pulled out her hankie and dabbed at Sayuri's eyes. "Button, it's a long way there, even on an airship. I can't come home very often."

"But I thought you could come home sometimes!" Now big fat tears were rolling down her face. Probably people were staring, but she didn't care. "I don't want you to go if you can't come home sometimes!"

Meili's eyes started to fill up as well. "Oh Button, don't cry, you'll make me cry. You'll hardly even miss me, you'll see. Just think, you'll get everyone in the house all to yourself!"

"I don't want to be by myself," she wailed, and threw herself into her sister's arms. "I promise I'll be good at all the parties, just please don't leave me alone!"

"Oh Button," Meili murmured, holding her close and not even minding when she crawled up into her lap. "It'll be okay, I promise."

"My gracious, what's all this about then?" Suddenly Papa was there, his nice soft hand wrapped around the back of her head. "What on earth has happened?"

"I don't want Meili to go away to the South Pole," she sobbed, and Papa made the clucking sounds he made when he knew you were feeling sad and he understood. 

"Oh dear." 

"I'm sorry, Papa, I mentioned it. I didn't mean to set her off."

"Well, now. This isn't a very auspicious ending to this evening, is it? Lady Feiyan called the hotel and went on and on in the most pestiferous manner about children disappearing and having a party in the dungeon or some such nonsense, I'm sure I don't know. The dungeon has been closed up, I can't begin to think what she is talking about. And in any case, here the two of you are." Papa snapped open his fan and gave the entire ballroom a dirty look. "Parties in the dungeon, I never. I was just getting to the good part in my novel, too, and had to cut it off to come and fetch you. Hmph." He frowned. "Have you girls had any cake?"

"I haven't had a chance," Meili said and gave Sayuri an extra surprise hug.

"Well. Come along, then." Papa sailed his way across the ballroom, simply expecting both of them to follow him and everyone else to get out of his way. They all did, of course. Papa was not big like Daddy or scary like her QiQi but he always looked like he was wearing a big sash that said MAKE WAY FOR ROYALTY and people just hopped to it. He walked right up to the table and addressed the cook that was standing there, cutting cake slices for everyone. "Good evening, my dear fellow. Do you think you could possibly cut us three pieces of cake and put them in some sort of box for us to take away with us?"

"Prince Hou-Ting!" The man practically dropped to the floor bowing.

"Yes, yes, thank you, do be careful with that knife. Make the slices large, if you would be so kind. Oh, and make sure one of them has plenty of frosting, please." Papa smiled. "The youngest princess is fond of the icing flowers."

The man hurriedly whispered something to his assistant, who took off at a run. He cut three perfectly enormous pieces of cake, one of which was slathered in yellow and pink roses. The assistant came running back, holding a white box like you'd see at a bakery. The cook put the slices carefully into the box and the assistant, in between bowing at Papa, tied it up with string. Papa took the box, thanked them in such a grand manner that the cook looked as if he would faint, took her hand in his and led them towards the door. "Move it along smartly, girls, before Lady Feiyan shows up and ruins what is left of our evening." Meili started to laugh.

"What are we doing, Papa?" she asked, as he led them out the big, fancy doors.

"We are going to go back to the hotel, you girls are going to change into your pajamas, and we are going to eat cake. And with any luck I may yet finish my chapter. Ah, there is our car. Come along now."

She looked for the boy outside, but didn't see him at all. Oh! He had her notebook! Well, maybe he would finish the hypothesis on his own. Still holding on to her father's hand, she slid into the backseat of the car, thinking about all the very satisfactory icing roses on her cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Marezelle, she DID recognize him at the lecture.
> 
> _Seventeen minutes past and a rather shambling, pudgy young man came running full-tilt through the door, his professor's robes unbuttoned and flying behind him, his tunic askew, his untidy black hair sticking up everywhere. He was fairly short; a bit shorter than she was, certainly, with brown eyes magnified behind thick lenses currently sliding down his nose. He had his arms full of papers and was trying desperately to hang on to them all._
> 
> _She put her book down. She smiled._
> 
> She took him for tarts, didn't she?


	11. Day Eleven: Chimney

He dug his left hand into the chalk pouch at his waist, keeping his grip with the right, his toes burrowed into the rock. He'd always climbed barefoot as a boy but that wasn't smart here; it'd be too easy for his toes to get smashed or even stung by something unexpected. Not to mention the very considerable heat involved. Burn blisters were no fun for anyone and they'd put him out of commission to boot.

It'd been Qi who had taken him to their cobbler; the woman made all of Qi's shoes to order, gave them special rubber soles and did all of the ornate leatherwork that Qi was so fond of. The cobbler had taken a cast of both of his feet and he'd explained to her what was important in a shoe needed for climbing, demonstrating for her by climbing up the side of her building to the roof four stories up. She'd made him a pair of form-fitting soft leather shoes, narrow in the toes so he could jam them into cracks, with a rough bottom that would help him with traction. They'd gone through four different pairs together, him giving her notes and her incorporating them, before the fifth pair were as perfect as he thought they could get. She'd made him some fingerless gloves, too, with the same rough texture on the palms to help him keep his grip.

The shoes weren't the only thing he'd improvised for climbing. After losing a pair of glasses down the side of a cliff he'd come up with a way to clip them around his head, keeping them secure. He'd experimented with the material that Asami had invented for the airbenders to make himself a suit that helped protect him from the harsh desert sun, without any loose cloth to snag or hinder him, complete with a hood for his head. Many of the sandbenders died too early from skin diseases caused by sun regardless of how they wrapped themselves and Asami was still working on a type of fabric that might be able to actually block the sun. He wasn't sure how many of the sandbenders would actually wear it - his jumpsuit got lots of stares, laughs and on more than a few occasions scandalized remarks - but he wore it nevertheless.

He glanced down to see San in his camp chair in the shade, Papa's latest novel in his hands. It had been waiting for them in Oasis Springs along with letters from everyone and he and San had been taking turns reading it. San's bare feet were resting casually on the cooler sand there as he read. He'd tried, over the years, to tell San he didn't need to babysit him when he was climbing. He didn't need San's help! The last time he'd brought it up San had just given him one of those level stares of his and had said, "Don't be an ass, Zhi," and that had been that. He didn't know why he bothered. Nothing budged San when he'd made up his mind about something. 

To be fair, San let him be. He never did try to assist him without being asked; he didn't use his bending at all except to leave his feet on the ground, making sure Zhi was where he was supposed to be. Only once, in all the years he'd been climbing, had he fallen. He'd been nine to San's just turned ten and had been scaling the cliffs at the beach when his slight weight had pulled the rock he was holding onto out of the loose dirt; surprised, he'd lost his balance and plummeted, not even having time to be scared before the cliff shifted itself around him, knocking the wind out of him and bruising him a bit but leaving him otherwise safe and sound. He'd lain there on the rock that hadn't been there mere seconds before, desperately trying to whoop in air, when San appeared, having used his bending to actually run up the side of the cliff to get to him. San had stared at him, eyes wild, before grabbing him and pulling him close, reminding him to breathe in a voice that was thready with fear. After that? He didn't climb without San somewhere nearby and that was the end of it. 

He didn't remember a time when San wasn't there. His parents and aunt and uncle had told the story of his first steps so many times it felt like his own memory now even though he knew it wasn't. Uncle Bo and Auntie Opal had come for dinner and San, already walking, was cruising through the living room, happily toodling about. He'd been pulling himself up as best he could on various chairs and sofas for a couple of weeks at that point, taking a few wobbly steps while still holding onto them before losing his balance and landing on his diapered butt. He'd been there, watching San go, reaching out his little hand, starting to cry when he couldn't follow his cousin, too scared to let go of Papa's leg. Papa had bent down to soothe him when San had trundled over, grabbing his hand and babbling something at him, tugging him until he let go of Papa's knee. Still holding his hand, San had taken a few slow steps, letting him catch up before taking another one. (Apparently at this point both Papa and Uncle Bo had started up with the waterworks.) San had patiently walked him across the room to where Daddy was sitting, holding his arms out for him to fall into. 

San had spent a lot of time at their house when Bu was small and so very ill. Papa had just gone ahead and added another bed to his room as well as another desk and dresser for San. They'd lay there at night, knocking quietly on the wooden headboards in the secret code they'd developed with each other, communicating in the dark. He loved his sisters deeply; their leader Naoki, fearless, fierce and wickedly funny, Meili a blend of compassion and strength that held them all together, baby Sayuri brilliant and so mischievous that he adored her. He wouldn't trade his sisters for anything, they were everything to him. But San was his brother in all the ways that mattered. He couldn't imagine being without San's quiet presence, his deep convictions, the fabled Beifong stubbornness that ran true in him. He and San had never needed words for whatever it was they had together. It was just there.

He knew they made an odd pair at first glance. He'd ended up towering over everyone at just over two meters, still lanky and he guessed he'd always be, despite the muscle from all the climbing. He'd had the glasses since he was twelve; probably ruined his eyes with all the reading he did, much like Papa had. His green eyes had enough gray in them to suggest some Water Tribe heritage somewhere, but with Republic City (and especially when it came to him) you never did know. He had skin that was a paler beige and black hair, nothing to write home about, not really, although if you got close enough you'd see the freckles on his face. San was taller than either of his parents, with his father's coloring and those deceptively sleepy, hooded Beifong eyes. Of all of the Beifong cousins he thought San resembled his maternal grandfather the most. He was big, but without the sheer bulk of his father or twin uncles. Damn good looking, too; women of all ages sat up and noticed him (and a fair amount of men, as well). San wasn't a monk or anything, he'd had a few flings, one of which had ended fairly badly when they were in their teens, bad enough that it had put San off of romance for awhile. San had been wiser in his choices after that. 

People misunderstood San a lot, or at the very least misconstrued him. Because he was quiet they mistook him for shy; he rarely lost his temper so they assumed he didn't have one. He had his father's kindness without all of his gregariousness (and let's face it, Zhi knew that he was the one doing most of the talking anyhow) and his mother's brains and common sense without appearing academic. He was an astonishing bender sans any of Naoki's innate showiness. His humor was of the sly sort, the kind that snuck up on you when you were least expecting it. Like all good earthbenders he took his damn time and made sure he did things right. He had enough of an airbender in him not to be stodgy with it, however.

There was no part of his life that didn't have San in it and he wanted it to stay that way.

"You at the part where the firebender gets lost in the forest yet?" he called down, huffing out a breath as he switched hands to chalk up the other. This particular rock formation was known as The Chimney by the local tribes, a slick expanse of limestone that jutted straight up into the sky. He'd been itching to try it since they'd made camp yesterday.

"Not all of us read as fast you do," San replied, not looking up.

"Pretty sure Amak's gotten that far." He pulled himself up about a foot, letting his core do the work for him as he found another decent toehold.

"Never said she hadn't."

Their families had worried that San meeting Amak - or becoming reacquainted, rather, seeing as they had met once when they were kids - might have changed their relationship. It hadn't. Amak had come up to him a couple of months after she and San started dating in earnest and told him that she understood that he and San were halves of each other and wanted to make it clear she wasn't trying to get in the middle of that. She hadn't, either. He knew most people didn't get it, but neither he nor San would ever date someone that didn't expect to have the other one in their lives. It's just how things were with the two of them. He liked Amak; she was outgoing, passionate and intelligent, perfect for San in every way. She'd come to the desert with them and San had moved from their tent to hers, something which didn't bother him as much as he had thought it would. It wasn't like he and San had ever shared a bed, not in that way, anyhow. She made San happy and her engineering prowess was something all of them were coming to rely on. Not to mention it was a damn useful thing to have a waterbender along in the desert. Amak could sense water sources from miles away, even finding ones their local guides hadn't known about.

"So what do you think about that guy?"

"Which guy?" San still hadn't looked up from the book.

"The guy. You know. The chieftain's son. Ping." He wasn't high enough that he couldn't see San's smirk.

"I'd say it was more important what you thought about him."

"Ha ha," he grunted, swinging his leg up and shifting his weight. "Come on, San."

San scoffed. "I'd say that he's lucky your father isn't here to see how he's always staring at you or else he'd fry him, then."

"San!" He swung himself into a high arc and caught another toehold above him, testing it before he let it take his weight. "Be serious."

"I thought I was being serious."

He rested his forehead against the rock, closing his eyes. "Damn it's hot." He fished his canteen from the clip on his belt and drank several swallows. "And I'm out of water."

"Come down then, climb when it's cooler tomorrow."

"Now there's a relative term if I ever heard one." He shaded his eyes with his free hand. "I probably should, though. This rock's tougher than I thought it was going to be and so's the sun." He frowned. "I'm actually starting to feel a little sick. Best to not push it today."

San stood then. "I'll bring you down." He raised his hands and shifted, feet slamming into the sand, which surged up to surround Zhi as he let go and rolled off the rock into its embrace, letting it take him slowly back to the ground below, depositing him gently onto his feet. "You okay?" San frowned. "We'd better get some more water into you." His eyes narrowed and then he snorted, a sound that was pure Beifong. "Speak of the dark spirit." Zhi turned his head the same direction to watch Ping walking towards them, his booted feet moving effortlessly over the loose sand. As Ping reached them he bowed, a graceful, flowing movement that Zhi could never dream of replicating.

"You are quite a climber, Your Highness." The sandbender glanced towards the rock, his expression hidden behind his veil. "It is not many who would dare The Chimney."

"Just Zhi, please. And thanks, although I overdid it today. It's still too hot out, or at least for this hunk of rock." He patted the limestone affectionately. "I'll be back for you later, sweetheart."

Ping held out his own canteen. "Please, drink." He took it and drank deeply. He'd learned, the first time they'd come to the desert, that to refuse the offer of water was considered quite the insult. The last thing he wanted to do was insult this beautiful, breathtaking man. He'd been stunned, that first night when they'd all sat down for a meal and the sandbenders had unveiled, at how handsome Ping was. He'd nearly mortified himself by dropping the flatbread he'd been using to scoop up his meal, feeling his face going up in flames. San had known, of course; being San he hadn't said anything. He didn't need to.

San'd been keeping an eye out, though, like he always did when it came to Zhi. "Is there something you needed?" He pulled on his other boot.

A slight bow towards San. "Our meal is nearly ready." San didn't answer, merely closed up his chair and slung it over his shoulder as Ping turned back to him. "Are you fit to walk, Your...Zhi?"

"Oh! Yes, sure. Thank you for the water." He handed the canteen back and Ping took it, watching him closely.

"Sunstroke is no trifling matter." 

He blinked. "Uh...right." He'd never really paid all that much attention to sandbender accents before but Ping's voice had a lilting quality to it. He wondered if he sang at all. He'd bet he did. 

"Your...Zhi?" The man leaned closer to him. "Are you sure you are well?"

"Um..." How had he never realized how beautiful brown eyes were before?

"He's fine," San said, wrapping an arm around his waist, pulling him along. "For a blockhead, that is."

"Hey!" He started to laugh. "What did I do to deserve blockhead?"

"What do you ever do," San said, shaking his head. "Come on, Amak can take a peek at you, but I'm sure you're fine." He turned to met the sandbender's eyes. "I've got him."

"Of course." Ping bowed again, before falling into step behind them.

"Don't be rude," he murmured, and San snorted again.

"Blockhead."

"Beifong!"

"Nice."

He slung his arm around San's shoulder and knocked his fist gently into his head. "You're the blockhead."

"Dream on, little man, dream on."

"You're one to call me little."

"Overgrown string bean."

Laughing a protest, he let San guide him towards the camp, the proffered water still sweet in his mouth.


	12. Day Twelve: Bah Humbug

"Miss Beifong?" Her new secretary's voice was hesitant and Iris tried to keep the irritation out of her own voice as she glanced up to see her hovering in the doorway.

"What is it, Hira?" She'd appreciated that her early promotion to junior associate meant her own secretary, but she wasn't sure this timid, soft spoken girl fresh out of secretarial school was going to work out for her.

"It's just..." the girl looked nearly petrified with fear and she tried to school her face into a more pleasant expression. 

"Yes?"

"It's after six, and I was wondering if you still needed me..." Hira trailed off, wringing her hands.

"What?" She glanced at the clock. "Oh fuuu...hmmm." She cleared her throat on the curse. "No, no, of course I don't, you should have left at five with the rest of them." She took in a deep breath. "Unless I specifically ask you to stay then I expect you to clock out on time, Hira. Understood? You don't need to be here just because I'm here. I often work late, just so you know. If there's anything I need you to do I'll just leave it on your desk for the morning." 

"Yes, Miss Beifong. Thank you. Um, and your uncle called about an hour ago, but I didn't put him through." Hira swallowed nervously. "You said you didn't want to be disturbed."

"Right. Which uncle? I have several."

"Your Uncle Wei." Hira walked across the room to hand her a note written on one of the firm's official message pads which read, _Your Uncle Wei Beifong would like to meet you for dinner, please respond._ She took it, balled it up, and tossed it into the trash can, not bothering to watch it go in.

"Anything else?"

"No ma'am."

"Okay, that will be all, then. And Hira? Make sure you mark down tonight as overtime, okay?"

"But Miss Beifong, you didn't ask me to stay-"

"Overtime, Hira. Mark it down. You get paid for what you work when you work for me." She nodded. "Have a good evening."

"Yes, ma'am. Goodnight, ma'am." Hira made an awkward little bow before leaving her office, presumably to gather her things and go. Damn it all anyhow, she should have made it clear to her that she didn't need to stick around waiting. 

Iris sighed. She had neither the time nor the energy to train up a new secretary. Why couldn't they have given her someone with experience? Like Jomei, the secretary for the head associate. Jomei had thirty years under his belt, he knew everything there was to know about how to support a lawyer. Fuck her anyhow. Massaging at her temples she glared down at the brief in front of her, her first case as a junior associate. She could not afford to dick this one up and it was a doozy, handed over to her as her specialty was international law. It was a class action suit, filed by the workers of a company who had neatly evaded paying them what they owed them by declaring bankruptcy in Republic City and then skipping out to one of the Earth Nations to start up the exact same business with all of the money they weren't paying to their former employees. Sneaky little fuckers, but not as sneaky as she was. She was pretty sure she had them; the law in Yi stated that-

She lifted her head up, frowning, and once again heard the solid thunk of something hitting her window, all the way up on the sixth floor. "What in Vaatu's festering asshole was that?" She got up from her desk and strode over to the window, peering down. There, on the sidewalk, grinning up at her, was her uncle. Seeing her face he waved and pointed at a bag in his hands. "He's going to break my window, I cannot believe him!" Trying not to laugh, she whooshed him away; undeterred, he hoisted up another chunk of sidewalk with his bending and let it float next to his head. "Oh fine, then!" She pointed towards the front door of the building before picking up her phone and calling down to the front desk, where a guard was on duty at all times. "Hello, this is Iris Beifong on the sixth floor. My uncle Wei Beifong is here for me, could you send him up, please. Thank you." She marched herself to the front door and waited, arms crossed, for the elevator to ding its way open and her uncle, smirking because he got his way, to come sauntering towards her.

"Hey there, Skunk Cabbage, how's it shaking?"

She rolled her eyes. "Uncle Wei, I'm working." Of all of her uncles, he was her favorite; so like her father, in so many ways, but in so many other ways so very different. As a twin herself, she understood how it manifested. "You can't just bother me whenever."

"Wrong, my beautiful little blossom. I was born to bother. And anyhow, it's coming up on seven. Why are you still here? And more importantly, why didn't you return my damn call?"

"Because the case I'm working on is very important, I just told you."

He raised a finger and shook it. "Ah ah ah, that's not an acceptable answer. Now answer me this one: when did you last eat?"

She scowled. "I don't know."

"Wrong answer!"

She flicked her hand and then shut the door behind him, making sure to lock it. "I don't know, lunch I suppose."

"Uh huh. And could you please tell the jury what you claim to have eaten for this presumed lunch?" He leaned towards her, hiding his mouth behind his hand. "I sound just like a lawyer, don't I?" He waggled his eyebrows at her and then she did have to laugh.

"Stop!"

Triumphant, he winked at her. "Okay, little miss important lawyer who can't eat lunch or be bothered to return the call of the best uncle in the world, show me your new office, then. I've promised your mother a full report, and let me tell you, I do not like to disappoint your mother. She always forgets she's not married to me and can't boss me around."

"I've got news for you, she forgets that about everybody."

"Oh, so very true." He dropped the bag he was holding unceremoniously on her desk and looked around. "Very nice, very nice. But come on, can't you put at least a little personality in here? What, not even a family photo or something?" He jerked his thumb out the door. "Even what I assume is your secretary out there has few picture frames on her desk. And a little plant in a koalasheep planter, which was kind of cute. Or cutesy. One of those."

She shrugged, uncomfortable. "I guess I just haven't gotten around to it."

"Uh huh." He wasn't buying it, she could tell. "Let me take a wild stab at it. You want so badly to live up to being the youngest junior associate in the history of the company that you want them to think you do nothing but live and breathe your work. Never to be distracted by such trivial things as family photos, lunch or even sleep, never mind free time." He leaned back to half-sit on her desk. "Spirits but you're like your mother." At her unhappy look he held out an arm. "C'mere. No, come on, no one's here to see you, c'mere." She sat down next to him and let him put his arm around her. "Skunk Cabbage, you're a kickass lawyer, the same way you've kicked ass at everything you've ever put your mind to. That's just how you are, fuck knows I never was like that."

"Really? I seem to recall being told that once upon a time all you did was eat, sleep and breathe pro-bending."

He met her eyes, serious for once. "That's exactly right, Iris. And I burned myself out so bad that I fell completely apart. You know that, right? It got bad for me for awhile there, I was drinking and partying so fucking hard that I damn near killed myself. If not for Qi and your Uncle Baatar kicking me back into shape I'm not sure what would have happened. I didn't do anything but bend until I literally couldn't do anything else and the bottom fell out. And baby girl, I love you so much. I don't want to see you doing what I did." He reached over and tenderly brushed back the same baby fine hair that refused to stay in any coiffure she tried, just like her mother's did. "Your mother is a driven woman, but she knows how to keep it all balanced, and that's because your father showed her how. Iris, you're not alone here. I'm here, and Sitiak and Opal and Bolin and Wu and Mako and Qi and your great-aunt and everyone else. We're all here for you. I get that the work is important but it can't be everything. You've got to return the calls, sweetie. You've got to come to eat with us, hang out sometimes, kick around the power disc, whatever. You hear me?"

She nodded, eyes filling up, before fishing out a mostly unused handkerchief. "Did you bring me dinner?"

"Nope. I'm here to fetch you. We're going to walk over to Chin's, Sitiak is meeting us there, he's just getting off shift now at the hospital."

"Uncle Wei, I can't-" she closed her mouth at the look he gave her. She knew that look from her father. It wasn't one either of them made very often but when they did, all arguing was over. "What's in the bag, then?"

He smiled at her before reaching in and pulling out a framed photograph and placing it on her desk. It was a shot that had been taken a couple of months back at Granny's birthday. All of them - even Pearl - were there, the entire extended family, posed in Uncle Huan's old atelier. The poor photographer; it had taken an hour to get everyone into place (not helped any by her grandmother and great-aunt getting into an argument over who knows what, Sayuri disappearing and having to be fetched again, Uncle Huan's complaining getting louder and louder, her mother telling the photographer how to do his job while her father tried desperately to distract her and little Emerald taking a tumble into the fountain in true Beifong fashion) and even at that it proved impossible to have everyone looking into the camera at the same time. It didn't matter; it was a wonderful photograph. Granny had sent every single one of them a copy. Hers was sitting on her desk at home, she hadn't thought to bring it here.

"Where did you get that?"

"I asked your grandmother for another copy. She sent it with her love." He reached into the bag and pulled out a lidded black and green cup with silver lettering that said, _World's Best Niece_ with a very small skunk cabbage painted below it. "Can't forget your tea cup, can you?" He placed it on her desk with a flourish. "There. Perfect."

"And where did you get that?"

"Qi made it in their ceramics class, but Wu did the lettering, of course. And the skunk cabbage, which kind of surprised me, I didn't know he could draw."

"Am I really supposed to use that?"

Her uncle put his hand to his heart in mock offense. "Listen, that's art! Who the fuck else in this office has a cup that the former king of the Earth Kingdom painted? I mean, come on!"

She ran her fingers over it and smiled. "Thanks, Uncle Wei."

"You just keep it in mind, yeah? World's best niece." He kissed her on her forehead. "Now do what you got to do here, lock up or whatever, and then we're going. Your work will be here tomorrow morning. I don't know about you but I'm starving."

She tidied up her papers and left something that Hira needed to type on her desk on the way out, locking both her office door as well as the main door behind her. Taking her uncle's arm, she headed out, a slight smile softening her face.


	13. Day Thirteen: Family

"You know, I think I prefer the water off Ember Island," Papa said, shoving up his glasses and shivering. "Radiant, aren't you cold?"

"Uh uh!" To prove his point, Radiant sat down in the lake with a splash, the water going up to his chin. "It's not cold, Papa! Or at least it isn't when you are used to it."

"Ah, the resilience of childhood," Papa said with a smile.

"What does rez...rezi..."

"Resilience," Papa replied. "People who are resilient are those who can come back very quickly from things that are hard. In this case, this very cold water." He shaded his eyes and looked towards the lodge. "Ah, your sister is up from her nap. Here they come."

Radiant launched himself out of the lake, ignoring his father's faint cry of protest as the water hit him unexpectedly. "Mama! Gumma! Come and swim with me! Papa says it's too cold!"

"Too cold, is it?" His mother beamed down at him, his little sister on her hip, looking cranky. Star didn't like taking naps. She especially didn't like waking up from them. "You're lucky your poor Papa went in there with you at all."

"Come out of the water, Zu, you look half-frozen." Gumma winked down at him. "I'll swim with you a little later, how's that?" They deposited an armload of towels onto the bench of the pavilion, taking one aside and handing it to Papa as he came out of the water. Papa wrapped the towel around himself and tried to smile at Star, who wasn't having any of it at all. She just made a grumpy face.

"Gumma, did you bring me a snack?"

"A snack, is it?" Gumma raised their eyebrow. "Why would I do that?"

Radiant threw himself at them, dancing around them in a circle. "Because I'm hungry!" Gumma just laughed down at him, and he laughed back. He loved his Gumma and he knew they had brought him a snack. They always brought everything you could ever want. He didn't see his other grandparents, Papa's parents, very often. They lived far away and whenever they went to visit he had to be on his very best behavior and wear clothes that were itchy and hot. It wasn't like at home, where Gumpa would read you books and answer all your questions and Gumpy would take you for long walks and let you ride on his shoulders so you were taller than everybody but Uncle Zhi and Gumma would hold you close and listen to all your secrets and never, ever tell. 

Mama laughed. "You had a snack when we got here, and that was only an hour ago."

"Yes but Mama, I'm hungry again. I am undernourished."

"Undernourished!" Mama beamed at him. "Excellent word, three gold stars. Where did you hear that one?"

"I heard Gumpa say it and I made him tell me what it meant. Where is Gumpa?"

"Still taking a nap," Gumma said. "Long car rides put him to sleep, just like your sister. And before you ask, Gumpy and your aunt and uncle and the cousins will be here tonight. Auntie Meili has to finish her day at the clinic before they can leave."

"Gumma, how did you know I was going to ask that?" He was always more than a little mystified at how his grandmother always knew what he was thinking. They crouched down to look at him, right in the eyes.

"I'm magic," they said in their quiet voice, and he giggled and threw his arms around them. "Oof, you're like an ice cube. How cold is that water?" They reached over and snagged a towel, wrapping it around him.

"Cold," Papa said, still huddled up in his towel. "Far too cold. Frigid."

"Frigid," he repeated. "Does that mean extra, extra cold?"

"It does, two gold stars," Mama said, and then laughed, looking back down the path to the lodge. "Hi ho, all hail the conquering hero and his hair!"

Gumpa was coming down the path, his hand going up to his hair. Gumpa hated it when his hair was messy, unlike Mama, who never cared. Mama never cared about anything like that, and she never cared if he got dirty, either. Mama was not like most of the other mamas he had met in the park or other places in town, that was for sure.

"My gracious, Radiant, did you actually get in that water! Isn't it cold?"

"It's frigid, Gumpa! But I didn't mind! Papa minded, though!"

"Well, your father does at least have some good sense, unlike others I might mention." Star saw Gumpa and leaned towards him, holding out her arms and Gumpa immediately took her. "Hello, my celestial darling. You look rather cranky, my love." Star stuck out her bottom lip and tried to put her curly head into Gumpa's armpit. Mama, her hands free, went to go and rub the towel up and down Papa's arms, laughing as she hugged him.

"Ooooh, cold! So cold! My frozen, delicious icicle of a husband!"

"For goodness sake, Zu, put your clothes back on, then." Gumpa kissed Star's head. "Now then, has anyone seen Marezelle yet?"

Gumma nodded, drying him off, doing it so quickly that he started to feel warm again. "She poked her head out but you know how she is."

"I saw 'Zelle," Star said. Gumma smiled at her.

"Did you, Starshine?"

Star nodded and he frowned. It wasn't fair. All the spirits liked Star best. Even Bob loved Star, it followed her around the garden and put flowers in her hair. He wouldn't mind flowers in his hair, would he? And it wasn't like he had offended Bob, not like Aglakti had. He'd used his bending to send Bob shooting straight up into the air in a waterspout and now he and Bob were foes. Auntie Meili hadn't been happy about that, telling them that it wasn't nice to tease spirits but it wasn't him that was the bender, after all! When Gumpa heard about it he took the two of them out for ice cream, though. Gumpa and Bob didn't like each other. He didn't understand why Gumpa let Bob live there - wasn't it Gumpa's house? - but grownups were strange that way. He mostly didn't understand them at all.

Gumma pulled his tunic over his head and handed him his pants before rummaging in their bag to hand him a rice ball. "How's your head?" they asked Gumpa, who smiled at them.

"Nothing too bad," he answered. "Meili can do something for it when she gets here."

Gumma tsked at him. "You and Mako should have switched places."

"Nonsense, you know he likes to drive." He reached out and pulled Gumma towards him. "I'm fine. Don't fuss, Qi." Gumpa kissed Gumma right on their mouth.

"Gumpa, do you have one of your headaches?" Sometimes Gumpa's head hurt so bad he had to go right to bed and stay there all day in the dark. All the grownups worried when it happened, and someone would call Auntie M and she would come right over, even if she had to leave her clinic to do it.

"Just a little one, my darling. Don't fret. Your auntie will put me to rights again. Now eat that lovely rice ball your grandmother gave you, before your stomach starts making all sorts of gruesome noises!"

"I know gruesome! It means really horrible!"

"Two gold stars for a very appropriate adjective," Mama said, ruffling his hair. "How many is that?"

He quickly did the math in his head. He loved doing math in his head, more than almost anything else except ice cream. "One thousand fifty nine stars with gruesome."

"On your way to an exemplary vocabulary," Papa said, taking his own rice ball from Gumma's bag. Papa liked snacks too. Unlike everyone else in their house, Papa had a nice soft round tummy that was truly exceptional to cuddle with. (He'd learned exceptional from GrandLin a few weeks ago, and Mama had given him three gold stars for it.) One of his favorite things in the whole wide world was to be up on the roof of Mama's workshop with Papa, looking through their telescope as Papa taught him all about the stars. He had a stool to stand on so he was high enough and Papa would hold him from behind, his tummy all squashy and warm against his back as Papa explained things. Papa always explained things so he could understand them. Mama was good at many things, but usually her explanations of things were too hard to figure out. Not Papa, though. And he always, _always_ brought some snacks, too. They had a telescope here at Gumma's lodge too and he knew Papa would let him stay up very, very late when all the stars were out and they could see so many here, more than than in the city. He knew why that was, too. It was called ambient light. Papa had taught him.

He was just going to ask Papa if they were going to look through the telescope that night when he felt the first rumble under his bare feet, the ground trembling just a little. "Gumpa! Gumpa! They're coming!"

"Oh gracious," Gumpa said, and immediately put his hand to his hair again. "Oh Qi, my hair." Mama just laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

"They're blind, Papa. Your hair is between you and yourself." She ran her fingers through it and made it stick straight up.

"Hmph," Gumpa said, and batted Mama's hand away. "Honestly, Sayuri!"

"Don't tease your father," Gumma said, and smoothed Gumpa's hair down. "Go on, then. Zu and I will be right here." 

Mama grabbed his hand and pulled him along, walking along the lake shore a little until they came to a wide open space. Gumpa came behind them, still holding Star. "Mama! They're coming, can you feel it?"

She smiled down at him. "I can!" She pointed past him, where the trees in the forest were swaying a little. "There they are."

He was so excited he couldn't be still, hopping and dancing around Mama, who looked back at Papa, standing with Gumma in the pavilion. Gumma was holding his glasses for him as Papa put his tunic and trousers back on. "Hi! Hi there! We're here!" he called, clapping his hands. 

The first one to come through the trees was the one Gumpa called the Matriarch, the grandmother badgermole. She had been Gumpa's friend since before Mama was born, even. She was a very dignified lady (like GrandLin was). Following behind her was her daughter, who was not too much older than Mama herself. She whuffled at them, nosing towards Mama, who thumped her on her nose, laughing. Gumma had called her Little Bit and that's what they still called her, even though she wasn't little at all! Little Bit warbled at Mama, and then turned back towards the trees, calling. Pretty soon a very small badgermole came through the trees as well, running very fast to stick behind Little Bit's side.

"Mama! Mama, is that a baby?"

Mama crouched down and put her arms around him. "It sure is."

"Wow," he said. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Hard to tell at this point," Mama said. "Not without looking at it in places it probably doesn't want us to." Mama laughed.

"My gracious, madam, is that your lovely grandchild," Gumpa sang out, his voice not very nice. Gumpa really couldn't sing, not like Mama, but the badgermoles never cared. The grandma badgermole went and nosed at the little one, pushing it a little so they could see it. 

Mama went to Little Bit and sang as well. Mama had a pretty voice, it sounded like sweet, warm custard to him. "Congratulations on the baby, what a beauty!" Little Bit touched their nose to Mama's face and blew air at her, which made Mama laugh even more. "You should be proud."

"Hi baby," he sang as well, going near the baby one. 

"You be careful, Radiant," Papa called from the pavilion. He was standing there with Gumma's arm around his shoulders. "Mamas don't always like it if people go too close to their babies."

He nodded back at Papa and then bowed towards Little Bit. "Can I say hello to your baby," he sang, and she turned her head away from Mama and nudged her baby towards him. "I promise I'll be careful!" Little Bit whistled and Gumpa gestured, and he knew it was okay. He stepped forward and went down on his knees next to the baby, plunging his hands into its fur, rubbing his face along its snout. It squeaked at him, gave his face a big wet, slobbery lick and then sat down. "You're soft and lovely!" he sang and kissed it, wiping his face off on its fur. He looked over and saw that Star was walking over towards him, a little bit scared. He held out his arms for her and she ran to him, putting her head into his neck. "Don't be scared, Star! The badgermoles love us! Say hi!"

"Hi," Star whispered, and the baby squeaked at her. 

"See? You can pet it, it feels nice." He gently took her hand and helped her pet the baby's head. "Isn't that nice?" Star nodded and put her other hand on the baby's head as well.

They petted and sang to the badgermoles for a long time, Gumpa was so happy, he was smiling and smiling. Gumpa really loved the badgermoles. He knew all about the story how Gumpa helped all those years ago in Republic City by riding the badgermoles to help save people underground. There was even a book about it that was written for kids, with pictures and everything. (It was one of his favorite books when he was as little as Star, Gumpa would sing all the singing parts when he read it and he still loved to see all the drawings of Gumpa when he still had brown hair and no glasses!) Finally the grandmother badgermole stood up on her hind legs, with Little Bit and the baby following her. (The baby fell over but that's okay, Star did that when she was still just a baby too.) The grandmother and daughter bowed at them, and he and Mama and Gumpa bowed back as well. (Star bowed too, but only from behind Mama's legs. Star was very shy.) Then they went away, bellowing their goodbyes. He knew they would come back; they liked to come to visit when they were visiting too.

"Oh Papa, don't cry," Mama said, hugging Gumpa and dabbing at his eyes with her hankie. All of the grownups had hankies for Gumpa.

"I know you think I'm foolish about it," he said, but Mama just kissed him. 

"You know that I don't." 

"Come on then, Wu." Gumma was there, handing Gumpa a fresh hankie. "Let's go have you lay down until Meili gets here, what do you say?"

"It's probably for the best," Gumpa said, and then he reached out his hand and took his as they started to walk back along the path. Gumpa had nice, soft hands and he always smelled a little bit like flowers. "Well, imagine that, Radiant! Not every day you see a badgermole baby, hmmm?"

"Are we going to give it a name, Gumpa?"

"Why certainly. I think you should do it."

He threw his arms around Gumpa's waist. "Really? Me?"

Gumpa smiled down at him. "Of course. Who better than you?" Gumpa leaned down and kissed his forehead and held his hand all the way back to the house.


	14. Day Fourteen: Not A Creature Was Stirring

For a man who had grown up in Republic City, the silence of the desert was something that never ceased to amaze him.

Not that it was pure silence, of course. The wind blew and the sand shifted and he could hear his own breathing, muffled through the veil he wore. But the sound that thousands of people crammed into a single space made was not something he found himself missing. 

Then again, he'd always been the quiet one.

His mother had asked him, before they'd left for the desert, if it was what he'd really wanted. She was afraid he was only going because Zhi was; something he was pretty sure, by the things he had said, his Uncle Mako thought as well. Some of it was about Zhi, of course. They'd been inseparable forever, since they were babies. He didn't want to go where Zhi wasn't and it really was and always had been as simple as that. But the desert hadn't been Zhi's first choice. Zhi had thought about going up north again, up closer to where his uncles were at the Temple. He was the one who wanted to go to the desert, interested in the oldest known rock formations in the world, in the sediment and fossils he'd find preserved in the limestone there. He'd told Zhi what he wanted and that was that. 

He knew their families thought Zhi was helpless without him. It wasn't true, but Zhi's parents were especially protective of him, which he understood. Zhi wasn't helpless, but he was defenseless. He had a tendency to always see the good in people and it made him susceptible to those who didn't have his best interests at heart. He, on the other hand, was a Beifong, despite his own father's kindness and gullibility. Did he watch out for Zhi, run interference for him with other people? Absolutely. Despite the family jokes, however, Zhi could read a damn map, handle finances with ease and could cook as well, which wasn't something he was sure any of his other cousins could manage. Zhi was organized and meticulous, and while he could get intensely focused on something he wouldn't forget to eat or bathe the way little Button would if left to her own devices. In other words, he had his shit together.

Even if he did like spiders more than anyone should have a right to.

He'd talked to Amak after their first few dates about Zhi. He'd figured out that she was the one for him by their second date; he knew most people didn't make those kinds of decisions the way he did, so he kept quiet, let her find her own way, even though he hoped her way would join his. He had to make Zhi clear to her, though. The girls and women he'd dated in the past had either said they were fine with it (and weren't, really, which was apparent from the way they carelessly dismissed it) or just skipped out immediately, which was what he preferred, all things told. He'd taken her for a long walk along the bluffs, talking to her about Zhi and what they meant to each other and she listened in that way she did, where she gave all of her attention. She let him finish and then took his hand and told him that she understood Zhi was part of the package and that she was willing to learn how to make that work for her. 

He'd been so relieved to hear it that he'd cried and she'd wrapped her arms around him and had put her head to his chest, just holding him, not saying a word and he realized that, like Zhi, she understood him. The next night she'd taken both Zhi and him for seaweed noodles and had smiled at Zhi across the table, taken his hand and said, _It seems you're going to be part of my life now, so why don't you tell me all about yourself?_

Amak was independent and intelligent, used to making her own way in the world. He knew his family had supported her through school but it was Amak who had graduated top of her class, one of the youngest to ever graduate from Harbor City Academy. His Uncle Baatar had first pointed her towards engineering; she was brilliant at it, able to work outside the box, coming up with ideas other people couldn't even hope to imagine. He loved the way her mind worked, letting a problem simmer as she went about her daily business, content to wait until a solution bubbled its way up. She was outgoing and friendly with people as well and that woman could barter like his father. Which was to say like she was born to it.

The first group of sandbenders they'd hired had been put off by her, however; they had expected her to take over the camp's cooking and cleaning and she'd made it very clear, from the first day, that she wasn't going to be thrust into that kind of position. _If I want outdated gender roles I'll go back to the Northern Water Tribe,_ she'd said firmly, and after that simply refused any hints or even outright demands on her time. _We're paying good yuan to have our needs taken care of,_ she'd finally said to the leader. _You wouldn't even dare to ask either San or Zhi to do any of this. If you don't like it then we'll find someone else._ They'd woken up the next morning to find that they'd been abandoned; she was upset but rallied when he and Zhi pointed out they were only a day or so out from The Misty Palms Oasis and would just head there and try again. They'd been fortunate that Ping and his tribespeople had been there and, after negotiation, had been willing to take on the job. She'd gotten right up into Ping's face and asked him if he expected her, as a woman, to take part in the daily running of the camp. Ping had stared at her for a long moment above his veil before saying, in that way of his, _I do not think you are paying us money to sit about watching you do our work instead of your own._ Which was exactly the right answer.

He was going to have to do something about Ping, though. He knew Zhi was attractive; not necessarily handsome, not in a conventional way, but he was lively and animated, with kind eyes and a wide smile. His grandmother had once called Zhi engaging and he thought that was about as close as you could get. Zhi engaged people, they were drawn to his gentleness and his way of including everyone into his sphere of enthusiasm. Zhi was genuine in everything he did and this Ping couldn't keep his eyes off of him. And yes, he knew, reasonably speaking, that Zhi was a grown man and didn't need his cousin playing at chaperone. There it was, though. Ping had no way of knowing Zhi's total inexperience, no real way of understanding how vulnerable he was. He didn't begrudge the man a fling - none of his business, after all - but Zhi was not the person he was going to do it with and that was that. Not that he was going to yank his dick out and wave it around, threatening violence or dire revenge or any of that bullshit. His father had taught him better than that. But he would have a word with the man, let him know that Zhi was off limits for casual affairs.

Dad had told them stories, when they were kids, about his visit to the Misty Palms Oasis and the fringes of the Si Wong Desert. Heavily edited, of course; as a teen he'd asked his grandmother what had happened to Aiwei and she had sighed and told him that the man's consciousness had gotten trapped in the spirit world and he'd eventually starved to death, despite all their efforts to try and keep him alive. Not that he thought his grandmother wanted to keep the man alive for personal reasons; he'd betrayed her, after all, and he was under no illusions as to how his grandmother or his great-aunt felt about betrayal. Rather, he thought they'd hoped to get information out of the man about the Red Lotus. There were still some of them about, or at least according to his Uncle Mako, but outside of speeches and pamphlets they seemed to be fairly tame after all these years, much like the Royalists.

He still kept his feet on the ground about it, though. He didn't need anybody getting any bright ideas when it came to Zhi.

He felt, rather than heard her come across the sand. She had a sort of long, flowing gait, a relatively slow walk when it came down to it. She was a woman who took her time, made sure she had things right. He appreciated that about her. He also appreciated her effusive temper. What could he say? Beifong men were who they were, and they knew what they liked. She wasn't high-strung - that was something he didn't think he'd deal with very well - but she knew what she wanted and never bothered to tamper down her passionate determination. He enjoyed nothing more than standing back and watching her let loose. She'd let him know if she needed him. Until then, he was content to let her manage things in her own way. He was grateful to be a part of her life.

"Watching the sunset, gorgeous?" She slid an arm around his waist and he pulled her around until he had her back against him, his cheek resting on the top of her turban. She was a head shorter than he was and fit perfectly.

"Mmmm."

"You okay? Or just thinking your thinks?"

"Just thinking my thinks."

"Do you want me to leave you to it?"

"Nope," he replied, and smiled as she chuckled and pressed closer into his arms.


	15. Day Fifteen: Midnight

She took a deep breath before stepping out of her room at the Imperial Jade Hotel, remembering what she had been told. Blend into the woodwork, walk quietly, project neutrality. Her cosmetics were subtle and her hooded coat covered what she was wearing as she made her way out of the lobby to hail a cab, taking it to the fringes of the neighborhood around the palace, paying with cash. She crossed the street and walked around the corner before hailing another cab, sitting in the back and applying kohl around her eyes. She paid cash for that one as well as it dropped her off at a hotel that was on the edge of respectability; decent enough that she could call for help if she needed it, but one that would take cash for the night without any questions. Once inside her room she took off the coat to reveal a dress that hugged her curves tightly and showed off far more bosom than seemly in the kind of circles she ran with. No scent; too memorable, lasted too long, but she applied lipstick in a deep scarlet shade and brushed rouge on her cheeks. She took her more sensible heels off, replacing them with a pair of strappy stilettos from her bag. She glanced at herself in the tarnished mirror. The curly blonde wig that the hood had been hiding looked cheap and tousled, a far cry from the sleek updo she managed her black hair into every day. If not for her pale green eyes she wouldn't have recognized herself. The woman staring back at her wasn't a respectably married wife and mother, one who worked herself to the bone in her mother's office. She was a woman who was looking for a good time, a fast, hard fuck before going her way. She made sure her small bag, the one that had enough cash to get her home, was hidden securely, leaving the larger bag with a little cash laying in plain sight on the nightstand. Taking another deep breath, she made her way out, heading for the bar the next street over.

It had been Qi she'd finally approached, after months of tearing herself apart. She didn't know who else to ask, who else to tell. She'd managed to get them alone and had dithered on, making inane small talk until Qi had gently taken her face into their hands. _Baby girl, are you in some kind of trouble? Let me help you._

She'd burst into tears then and had spilled the entire thing into Qi's strong embrace. How her husband, kind, thoughtful, generous, supportive and loving, was exactly the same in their bed, so solicitous that she wanted to slap him sometimes, faking her orgasms just to get him to let her alone, his touch never enough for her. _I don't want to divorce him,_ she'd sobbed at Qi. _He's a good man and I love him and he loves the baby. He understands the politics involved in what I do, he's perfect in every way._

 _Just not in that way,_ Qi had said, handing her a handkerchief.

 _I know you must think I'm horrible,_ she'd said, and Qi had grasped her chin in their hand then.

_Orchid, baby, you're my family. That's all there's to be said about it. Now what do you need from me?_

They'd told her what to do. When to leave the Imperial Jade - not too late, not too early - what to wear, what to say, how to take two different cabs, the name of the other hotel, how to hide her real bag while leaving the other as a decoy just in case, how to change her looks with makeup and how to make sure the wig wouldn't come loose no matter what was done to it. Never go back to anyone else's place, only to the hotel so that she could call for help if needed. How to discard the wig and shoes behind her and clean the cosmetics off her face before returning to the Imperial Jade, again taking two different cabs. What bar to go to - slightly seedy, but not really dangerous, one that was known locally for pickups, how to only drink one drink and to never let anyone else touch it. How to be safe.

She didn't know how Qi knew all of this about Ba Sing Se. Qi knew things, that was all.

He'd been sitting at one end of the bar when she entered, his eyes going straight to her breasts. He'd gotten up and come too close to her, smelling faintly of coal and unwashed man, asking if he could buy her a drink in a broad accent that thrilled her. He was young and roughly handsome, with the hard, calloused hands of a laborer. She had her drink - a little too fast, but she was nervous, although she thought she was masking it pretty well - and he asked her if she wanted to go back to his place. She demurred, saying she had a hotel, and he seemed fine with that. They walked back together, his hand cupping her ass through the thin material of the tawdry dress and she was already so wet she felt her knees trembling. 

The hotel clerk ignored them after a quick glance up, wholly uninterested, reading her magazine. She took him back to the room and shut the door and then he was on her, pushing her up against the wall, his mouth tasting of cheap beer and cigarettes, his knee grinding between her legs as his fingers went straight for her nipples, hauling her breasts out of her brassiere with practiced ease, slapping first one and then the other as she moaned, unable to help herself. He liked that, through, grinning at her. _Yer a horny little bitch, aintcha?_ and oh spirits, yes, she really fucking was, and so she grabbed his cock through his trousers and squeezed him hard, while telling him to shut up and fuck her.

He practically tore the dress off of her then, leaving on her stockings and shoes and her breasts hanging over her brassiere, actually ripping her panties in his haste to get at her. He didn't even bother to take off his own clothing, just dropping his trousers before tossing her facedown on the bed, hauling her ass up as he shoved into her, not even checking to see if she was ready for him, his cock so big that it was painful at first, thrusting into her so deeply she screamed into the threadbare pillow. He fucked her, rutted into her as he grunted and she found herself grunting in return, her first orgasm ripping into her as she screamed again, her hips arching up as he slapped her ass, laughing. _Sing it, Mama,_ he rasped, never letting up, not giving a damn if she was tender or needed a moment to breathe, his assault continuing, bringing her to a second orgasm before his movement sped up and she felt his seed flood her, his last slap on her ass a seemingly fond one as he pulled out and flopped down on the bed next to her. She lay there on her stomach, trembling, overcome, and heard him chuckle before he flipped her over, his workman's fingers pinching and then yanking her clit as her third orgasm rippled through her. _Yeah, that's what I thought,_ he said, smug.

She just lay there, trying to breathe, when he turned his head to look at her. _You've got great tits,_ he said, and before she knew she was going to say it, she replied with, _And you've got an incredible dick._ He laughed at that, tweaking her nipples again absently. _Normally I just hit and run, but this was fun. You want to hang out for a few minutes? I'll be ready to go again._

 _Fuck yes,_ she said, hoping she didn't sound too desperate, but he just laughed again, this time sitting up to take off his own clothes, shoving them to the floor, his body lean and hard. 

_Let me suck on those fat titties, Mama, and I'll get hard again in no time._

He was as good as his word, sucking and biting on her breasts until he'd marked them and she was writhing under him, a part of her knowing she shouldn't let him but the other part of her reasoning that she had makeup and she could put her husband off for a few days after she got home. She noticed he was starting to harden again and she made her way down the bed to take him in her mouth, the taste of him bitter on her tongue, sucking and pumping at him with her fists, yanking hard on his balls until he hissed and pulled himself out of her mouth with another grin, what was left of her lipstick making ragged smears down the length of him. The second time he took her was less frenetic than the first, her on her back that time, her legs around his shoulders as he teased her, sinking into her and stopping, grinning at her until she begged him to continue. Her orgasm was deep and slow that time, so intense that for a moment she thought she might black out, the guttural noises she was making still shocking that perfect Mommy's little girl that she was inside. He came again and then lay beside her for a time, catching his own breath, before sitting up.

 _I got work in the morning, guess I better go._ He glanced at her. _You gonna be around again, pretty Mama?_

 _I'm only here on business,_ she said. _I come a few times a year._

He smirked. _Well, next time yer in town, you come on back, take a look for me. I'd be happy to go another few rounds. You and them sweet titties._ He gave her clit a friendly pat, and kissed her on the cheek, a surprisingly intimate gesture, the only one he'd made. He quickly dressed and with a wink walked out her door as she lay there for a few minutes more before sitting herself up, taking out the pins on the wig and quickly taking her own hair out of the cap she'd put it in, twisting it into a simple knot and re-pinning it. She put on the dress and pulled out her more sensible heels before taking her handkerchief and scrubbing off what was left of her makeup, already smeared across her face. Her panties were a complete loss, however, and she left them on bed with the discarded wig and heels and larger bag. _Just leave them behind,_ Qi had told her. _Someone will make use of them and you don't need anything that will tie you to it when you're back in Zaofu._ She'd get rid of the cheap dress before she headed back home; she'd bought it the day before in the shop Qi had told her to go to, again using cash. _Don't leave behind any trace,_ they'd told her. _And for fuck's sake, don't fall prey to some misguided guilt and tell your husband. It'd be a selfish thing to do, it'd only hurt him, and that's the last thing you want to do. You're doing this to save your marriage, but he doesn't need to know about it. Besides. All of us have secrets, baby. All of us. Sometimes it's best to keep them._

She pulled up the hood and left the hotel, walking another block over to a larger thoroughfare where there was a fair amount of traffic. Qi had said she could find a cab there without a problem and they were right; she had it take her to the theater district where people were milling about after various plays and then took another cab to the hotel, hoping like fuck that she didn't smell too much like sex. Through the lobby of the Imperial Jade, a visiting businesswoman who had spent the evening at the theater, nothing to see or think twice about. She was Orchid Beifong, first tier nobility, part of the founding family of Zaofu, wife and mother and dutiful daughter. The cum sliding down her thighs without any panties to stop it and the delicious ache deep inside her from being pounded as hard as she had would be gone by the time she returned home.

Fuck but she felt good.


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Baby Please Come Home

It had been, all told, an amazing twelfth birthday. All of the family had come from Zaofu and most of the airbenders from Air Temple Island and her Northern Air Temple family as well, including cousin Goba and his two wives and their kids. She knew, of course, that they were all the way down in Republic City for more than her birthday, but even still, everyone had shown up to the huge party Grandma and Grandpa had thrown her.

Well. Not everyone.

She wandered through the house, nibbling at the food that Grandma had had catered, listening to the sounds of people talking and laughing, getting caught up after time apart. Grandpa was sitting with Uncle Wei and Uncle Wing, telling some story from when they were young, Auntie Nuo rolling her eyes at them and Uncle Meelo interrupting him to add more details, everyone laughing. Grandpa was the best storyteller of the family, everyone knew it. She dodged around one of cousin Orchid's little boys who was doing something unspeakable with one of the noisemakers and ducked into a hallway, meaning to head out to the barn to check in on Ruffles, keeping as quiet as she could. She loved her family, she did, but there were an awful lot of them, and since it was her birthday, they'd all been looking for her to give her their well-wishes. Just a little break, a few minutes with Ruffles, and she'd head back in for another round.

She was surprised to hear her grandmother's voice. Grandma sounded upset, and she instinctively crept closer to her and Grandpa's bedroom, peeking through the crack in the nearly closed door. Grandma was sitting on her bed, crying, Auntie Jinora sitting next to her, with her arm around her.

"Oh, Opal," Auntie Jinora said, handing her a handkerchief. "She could still show..." Auntie Jinora trailed off at the look Grandma gave her.

"She's not coming. She never comes. And you know, she can treat Bolin and me however she wants to, but how could she do it to Emerald?" Grandma wiped at her eyes, almost angrily. "I don't understand it, Jinora. What did we do wrong with her? Spirits know we aren't perfect people or perfect parents, but whatever did we do to her that she could be so careless with her own daughter's feelings?"

She stood there, frozen. She'd never heard Grandma speak of her mother this way. Grandma had never defended her mother or anything, but mostly she just sort of changed the subject whenever she tried to bring her up.

"I just...I'm so ashamed of her. She's not a child any longer. There's no excuse for this. I know she was too young when Emerald was born, too young and too fucking irresponsible. But Emerald's twelve now and it's time she took at least some responsibility for her." Grandma blew her nose, still crying. "It's not that I expect her to show up and stay, it's clear that's never going to happen. But at the very least she could stop treating her daughter like a damn postscript. Would it have been too much to ask for her to show up for her birthday?"

Auntie Jinora sighed softly. "Clearly it is."

"Well too fucking bad," Grandma snapped, waving the wet hankie. "Sometimes you just have to do shit you aren't comfortable with. Sometimes you have to face your mistakes and own them, no matter how it makes you feel. I know Bolin and I taught her that, the same way we taught San and Bu."

She stepped back, arms going instinctively around herself. Was that how her mother saw her? Her grandparents as well? As a mistake? Turning on her heel she stumbled down the hallway, towards the back door, flinging it open and running for the barn, hot tears sliding down her cheeks. She burst in through the barn door, sobbing, throwing herself at Ruffles who whuffled his distress at her own, nosing at her as she wept into his fur. Even Juicy and Ginger came closer, trying to see what was wrong. She burrowed into his coarse fur, never minding that her new birthday dress was getting crumpled or that her hair was sliding out of the new jeweled pin that cousin Rose had given her. "I hate her," she wailed into Ruffles' ear, not sure if she meant her mother or herself.

"Family can really bring it out of us sometimes," said a voice, and she whipped around to see Uncle Mako standing there. Technically he was her great-uncle; Grandpa's older brother, old like Grandpa and Grandma, although not as old as Granny or Great-Auntie Lin. Uncle Mako had always, from the time she was a tiny girl, been kind to her. He came further into the barn and reached into his pocket, pulling out both a handkerchief as well as a lemon drop, her favorite candy. Uncle Mako always had lemon drops for her, always. "Is this about your mother?" At her tearful nod he sighed. "You want to talk about it?" He sat down on a hay bale and waited for her to come for her candy, which she did. He gave her the hankie, too, letting her mop up her face and offering his arm when she was done. She snuggled into his chest, like she used to do when she was little. 

"Do you think I was a mistake?" Her voice was small.

"Sounds like you think it," he replied, and tapped on the hand with lemon drop in it. She automatically put it into her mouth. "For the record, I don't believe that any child is a mistake. Kids are kids, not oopses. So no, I don't think that."

"I think my mother thinks it," she said, and he sighed again.

"I think there's a lot going on with your mother. And if I'm honest with you, I think there's a lot going on between your grandmother and your mother, and unfortunately you're stuck in the middle of it. It's not right, but there it is. Life isn't always right." He shifted his arm, pulling her closer, kissing the top of her head. "Emerald, one of the really shitty things about growing up is that sometimes you have to realize it isn't always about you. This thing between your mother and grandmother? It's not really about you, not below the surface. And what that means is that you can't fix it."

"It's not fair," she said, and his fingers briefly tightened on her shoulder.

"Not in the slightest."

"Do you think Grandma and Grandpa think I'm a mistake?"

He pulled back to look at her with a frown. Sometimes Uncle Mako looked stern but that's just how he was, it didn't mean he was really angry. "No. Where's that coming from?" She quickly told him what she had overheard and he pulled her close again. "That's what I mean. Your mother and grandmother have a difficult relationship. But I can guarantee your grandmother herself doesn't think of you as a mistake. She loves you, Emerald. Just like your grandpa does."

"You're sure about that?"

"I am. Listen, they were not expecting you when Pearl brought you home. Your mother. She hadn't told them she was pregnant, even, and then she showed up with you, only two weeks old, and told them she couldn't take care of you and left the next morning before anyone else was up. They didn't even have any baby things in the house." He chuckled a little. "Your grandma called our house and Uncle Wu went into action, they had everything they needed and more within a few hours."

She had a to laugh a little at that as well. She could just imagine Uncle Wu, hand to his chest or maybe waving around his fan, picking up the phone and bossing around all the salespeople.

"So yeah, you were a surprise, much like your cousin Zhi was for us when he was born. But a surprise doesn't equal a mistake. You weren't a mistake."

"Emerald? Sweetie? Are you in here?" Grandma came into the barn and saw her with Uncle Mako and immediately came towards them. "Oh, sweetie, what happened?"

She started to cry again. She didn't mean to, it just happened. "Grandma, I heard you talking to Auntie Jinora. Do you think I was a mistake?"

Grandma looked horrified, her eyes and mouth wide. "What? Emerald! No! Never! Oh sweetie, what did I say to make you think that? I am so very sorry." Grandma sat down on her other side and put her arm around her and partly around Uncle Mako. "Oh, sweetie, I don't know what you heard, but please believe me, I don't think that about you. I never have." Grandma had tears in her eyes as well. "I love you, I love having you here with us."

"You said that people had to face their mistakes and own them. Like Mom with me," she sobbed, and Grandma kissed her cheek several times.

"Oh sweetie, I meant her mistake of _leaving_ you. Not actually having you, giving birth to you. That wasn't a mistake!"

"Just a surprise," Uncle Mako said, and Grandma nodded.

"Yes, a surprise. You were that for sure. But never a mistake, never. Grandpa and I love you so much."

"But Grandma...even if Mom did show up today, would you make me go with her?"

Grandma pulled back and stared at her. "What?"

"Would I have to leave?"

"Emerald Beifong," Grandma said, and her mouth thinned up. "You just stop right there. This is your home. You live here with Grandpa and me, and nothing is going to change that, not even your mother. Do you understand me?"

She nodded once.

"Well good." Grandma was quiet for a moment. "You know your mother was only seventeen when you were born, right? And that's very young to have a baby. Too young, I think. Or at least for your mother, anyhow. She needed help with you, and of course your Grandpa and I were there to help her with that. We're family, that's what families do."

"Yep," Uncle Mako said. He still had his arm around her. 

"There was never any other option, never any question that we would help raise you. Not even for one single second. That goes for both Grandpa and me. We love you very, very much." Grandma gave her a little shake. "So I want you to get any other ideas out of your head about that."

"Okay, Grandma."

"The thing is, though..." Grandma was quiet for a few moments. "The thing is, your Grandpa and I, we thought your mother was going to stay here and raise you with our help. And she chose not to do that. And she still continues not to do that. And...well. It's complicated. Your mother and I didn't always get along-" Uncle Mako snorted and Grandma swatted him with her free hand, "Keep it to yourself, Mako! Anyhow, because of that I think your mother isn't coming home. Well, partly because of that. Your mother has never liked being tied down. It frustrates me and makes me sad and angry on your behalf, that's for sure."

"But do you still love Mom?"

"Yes, Emerald. I love your mother very, very much. Nothing she could do would ever change that."

"Even though you're sad and angry?"

"Yes."

She took a deep breath. "Do you think Mom will come today?" 

Grandma shook her head, and looked very, very sad. "No, sweetie. I don't. But that's not your fault, not in the least. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. This isn't about you. It never really was." Grandma leaned forward and kissed her forehead. 

"What did I tell you?" Uncle Mako said. "Growing up kind of sucks sometimes." Grandma snorted at that and then they were all quiet for a bit, Uncle Mako fishing out another lemon drop for her. "I'm sorry, sweetie," Grandma finally said. "I haven't...well, I haven't really spoken to you about all of this before. You were too young for the conversation, but clearly that's not the case any longer. And I owe you a long talk about it and I will try to answer any questions you might have. I might not have all the answers but I'll do my best. Okay?"

"Okay, Grandma." She sucked on her lemon drop and nestled her head against Grandma.

"But that's not a conversation for today. Today we have a party, and we should get back to it. Can we take a raincheck? I promise, we will talk about it. Grandpa too, if you want him."

She nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Grandma stood up and smiled at her, holding out her hand. "How about we go to my room real quick, get you cleaned up a little? It's getting to be about cake time anyhow."

She smiled. "Is it lemon cake?"

"Are you kidding me? Did you really think we'd get you any other kind?"

She stood up and took Grandma's hand. "Is it lemon with strawberry?"

"Well, I guess you're just going to have to blow out your candles and find out, aren't you?" Grandma glanced back and met Uncle Mako's eyes. "Thanks, Mako."

Uncle Mako put his arm around Grandma as they walked out of the barn. "What have I always said? Best thing my brother ever did was marry you. Without that, we wouldn't have Emerald, would we?" He winked down at her and she took his hand with her free hand and swung it along.


	17. Day Seventeen: Wonder

She'd already spent her apprenticeship in Republic City and returned to Zaofu before she learned that it was her uncle who had, over the years, been the one to leave the various gemstones hidden for her around the estate.

It wasn't so much that she couldn't figure it out; she knew, after all, which gemstones were and were not native to the area. It was more that she didn't want to know, simply delighting in them whenever she would find them, getting a feel for each stone's unique properties, the play of light on each facet and the feel of their individual textures, in the raw as well as polished. She had found the first one - a chunk of semi-polished rose quartz, laying in the soft dirt of her father's garden - when she was so tiny she could barely even walk and more had followed, over the years, a collection of all shapes and sizes and colors. Grampy (who must have known who was doing it, after all) had built her a display cabinet to hold them all and as a girl she'd spent many pleasurable hours arranging and re-arranging them based on different criteria, taking true joy in the feel of rough and slick sliding through her sensitive fingers.

She'd been in her teens before she'd really considered making jewelry with them. She'd always admired Granny's headpiece, something she knew her Uncle Huan had made for her when he was in his teens as well. Her unconventional uncle, the one who focused mostly on art, who had traveled the world and who lived with her other uncle (the bad boy uncle, the one the family built an incontrovertible Beifong shield around, not to be confused with her father's twin, who had been a bad boy uncle as well but in a different and more acceptable way that she didn't really understand but no one was asking her anyhow) and their shared airbender wife far up north, the one who had left his atelier behind, the place she loved to wander, eyes closed, fingers trailing along his work, instinctively understanding the play of strength and fragility in the metal as he had bent it into those singular, passionate shapes.

She thought that maybe, like her, he had also been lonely in the midst of this sprawling, loud, loving family.

Granny never took off that headpiece, but she took it off for Rose, letting her close her eyes and sense each individual link in the graceful chain, how the jade centerpiece, the exact color of Granny's eyes, had been shaped and nestled gently into its setting.

She'd refined, during her apprenticeship, her intuitive knowledge of how to craft and shape the gemstones, their interplay with various metals, how to balance fragility and strength, gaining confidence with editorial choices that could produce truly stunning finished pieces. Most of her designs were inspired by nature although sometimes a little whimsy would find its way in, her odd humor peeking through. She'd tried to do commissions for a time but it hadn't worked out for her; she wasn't good with deadlines and sometimes the stones didn't want to do what the customers wanted. She didn't bother with those any longer, she just made what she made and there was still a part of her that was surprised that people not only wanted them but would pay quite dearly for them.

She didn't really understand the money part of all of it. Orchid had taken over that part of it for her, and later Poppy, still at university gaining her business degree, took over from Orchid. She let them do what they did when it came to all of that; Poppy had gone on and on about building an exclusive market through word of mouth and carefully cultivated exposure until she'd put her hands over her ears and protested, and Pops had just hugged her and told her if she trusted her she'd just take care of it.

Of course she trusted her. She trusted all of them. They were her sisters, her family. She knew they'd take care of her.

Grampy had written to Uncle Huan and after getting his permission, had renovated Uncle Huan's atelier, making it into a place where she could work in peace, surrounded by her uncle's wonderful art. She'd sit inside the enclosed studio, all of her tools and supplies surrounding her, all of the windows letting in light and, when the weather was good, plenty of air. She'd never liked the harshness of all the metal that Granny and Grampy had dreamed of all those years ago when they'd built her home, and Grampy knew that, using wood instead, the feel of it soft and warm, mimicking the trees and flowers in her father's beloved garden. She was happy whenever she was in there, everything where it was expected to be, away from everyone else. The atelier was off limits to any and all guests and her family knew it was her place and, for the most part, steered clear. The maids came in once a week to clean but had been given explicit instructions from Mommy as to what they could or could not touch and she rarely had any issues with them. Dinner had always been the meal that everyone was expected at; Granny and Mommy insisted on it. Other than that, someone would bring her food during the day and show up again to remove her plates. Sometimes she didn't feel inspired at all and would spend her days in her bedroom reading or wandering the grounds, quieting her mind and senses. She always came back to the atelier, though.

She hadn't liked Republic City much at all. She hadn't minded living with Uncle Wei and Sitiak - their flat was a quiet one and her uncle understood her need for peace and left her to it. Sitiak had been very kind and respectful and she found she liked him very much. But the city was too much for her. She had gotten overwhelmed once, standing there in the middle of the sidewalk after leaving the jeweler's where she was apprenticing, her breathing frantic, unable to move, not knowing what to do, shaking and speechless. She wasn't sure what might have happened if Uncle Mako, whose office was only a few blocks away, hadn't been passing and had spied her and had come to her rescue, calling a taxi and taking her back to his house, giving her tea and having her lay down in their guest room until she had slept for several hours and felt better. After that Uncle Mako always met her when she was leaving, making sure she got safely into a taxi or driving her back to Uncle Wei's flat himself. She felt bad that she was putting him out - he must be busy, after all - and tried to tell him she could continue to take the tram but he had told her that she was family and that was all there was to be said about it.

She'd been glad to get back home. She didn't have regrets about her time in Republic City - she had learned so much and it was so good to get to see Iris whenever she wanted to - but Zaofu was where she wanted to be. She'd been working on a piece for Mommy's birthday when she'd sensed someone walking into the atelier, the cadence of their step both familiar and unknown under her bare feet. It took her a moment before she'd smiled and had gotten up from her chair and walked out of the studio, joining her Uncle Huan as he stood in front of a particular piece that she'd always liked, its bold design bursting forth, a newborn convergence he'd captured forever in tempered steel.

"Your Uncle Bolin once said this looked like a banana," he said, and she snorted.

"Well. Consider the source."

Uncle Huan smiled at her, the faint upturn of his mouth that usually sufficed for him. "True." He held out his hand, a large chunk of inky-blue kyanite resting in his palm. "I was going to hide this but I may as well give it to you." 

"All these years? It was you? Where did you get them all?" She took it and had to blink away the tears that surprised her with their suddenness.

"Here and there," he replied, and when she looked up he had tears in his eyes as well. "I found some, bartered for some, bought some outright. I found this one on one of the mountains near the temple, your uncle was looking for good places to build more of his windmills, he took me along."

"Why?" She really wanted to know. Insofar as she knew he hadn't done anything like this for anyone else, her sisters or cousins, even his own children.

"Grandma - my grandma - used to leave chunks of meteorite for me to find, a training exercise. Back in those days when talking wouldn't come to me and my hands wouldn't obey. I thought maybe it might help you, too." He tapped her hand gently. "You were trapped in your head, like I was. I wanted to help."

"It helped," she whispered, and was rewarded with his big smile, the one that showed his teeth and was so rare.

"Good," he said, and they stood for a moment, not saying anything. They didn't need to. "Can I see inside?" he asked, and she nodded, leading him in.

"You don't mind?" she asked, gesturing around at the new workshop. He shook his head.

"I'm glad it's being used. It was alone here too long."

She showed him the few pieces she'd completed, waiting for Poppy to do whatever it was she did with them, putting the kyanite on her table. She took out the piece she was nearly finished with for her mother's birthday: a collar of silver for Mommy's formal Zaofu robes, a pattern of birds and leaves highlighted by diamonds kissed with just a blush of pink, both delicate and bold, like her mother was. Nothing to overpower her - Mommy really was tiny, despite her personality - but it had to make an immediate impact, like Mommy did. Uncle Huan turned it over and over in his hands, peering closely at it before closing his eyes, seeing it with his fingers like she did, his mouth curving up into another smile.

"This is technically brilliant, no flaws at all. But more important, it's very Nuo. That's what makes it so good. You're very good, Rose."

She smiled, happy. It meant something to have Uncle Huan compliment her. More than anyone else in her family. "Thank you."

He nodded, putting it carefully back onto the velvet where she was working on it, meeting her eyes, the two of them understanding each other.

She wanted to make something for him to thank him for all those years, for all the stones he'd left for her, for the love and kindness he'd shown her in his own way. She sat at her table, letting her fingers trail over the chunk of kyanite, letting the ideas seep into her consciousness, never rushing, trusting them to make themselves clear when they were ready. The stones would always show her, if she let them. She pulled a scattering of diamonds from a drawer where she kept them, a large piece of ivory that had been waiting for years, debating between gold and silver and deciding on gold, wanting it to be warmer, more like the sunrise she remembered so vividly from her visits to the Northern Air Temple. Sitting down, she started to work.

Uncle Huan had brought her cousin Tseten down so he could train for a time with Granny and Daddy. Uncle Huan thought he could benefit from some traditional training and said that he had plenty to teach, but not that. Tseten was a bright, curious ten year old, full of energy, looking a lot like his mother. Uncle Huan spent his days doing work in the atelier as well, sculpting and painting, the two of them leaving each other be. Not in an unfriendly way, but understanding that they both needed solitude to do their best work. She could tell that her family was glad to have him around; he teased Mommy in a sly way that she didn't know anyone else but Uncle Wu could get away with. She forgot, sometimes, that he'd known Mommy longer than Daddy had. Granny and Grampy were happy to have him there as well. He spent a lot of time with Grampy, hours walking with him slowly, giving Grampy his arm, talking with him, remembering the past.

She saw him once, inside the house, tenderly adjusting a blanket over Grampy in his favorite chair, her grandfather having fallen asleep, his mouth drooping open. She hadn't realized he was crying until she saw him wipe the tears away with his sleeves. "Dad," he murmured. "Please don't go yet. Bhuti hardly knows you." He carefully took Grampy's glasses away and put them on the table next to him. "Just stay a little longer," he whispered, crouching down to look at Grampy. "Just a little longer." He looked up then and met her eyes and she came into the room and held his hand, the both of them looking at Grampy, until Granny came in and told them it was time for tea.

She finished the piece but waited to give it to him until the night before he and Tseten were due to head back up north. They were taking the airship back up and needed to go before they were stuck down south for the winter. Granny had wanted them to stay longer but Uncle Huan hadn't wanted to be away from the rest of his children that long. She handed it over, tucked into one of the silver and green boxes lined with black velvet that Poppy had commissioned for her. He opened the box and froze for a time, not even touching it, before reaching down and taking it out. It was a large, swooping pendant of green enamel interspersed with diamonds surrounding the carved ivory piece, the kyanite fashioned into a drop below. She'd carved the ivory into a raised relief of both him and Auntie Ikki, based on a photo that Granny had in her office from the days when the two of them had still been traveling, the two of them young and clearly so happy. His own work with jewelry had been an influence on her and she wanted to show that in this particular piece. She'd been very happy with how it turned out; she hoped he would be as well.

"Little Bird," he whispered, and ran his fingers across her face, immortalized in bone.

"It's you and Ma!" Tseten said, leaning over to look at it. "Wow, Ba! That's awesome!" He grinned at her. "It's really pretty, Rose!"

"Oh Rose," Granny said, shaking her head. "It's exquisite, just breathtaking." The rest of her family concurred, saying nice things, but she couldn't look away from how Uncle Huan's fingers trembled over Auntie Ikki's face.

"Here, Huan, let me help you," Mommy said gently, and she put it around his neck, doing the clasp for him. "There. Perfect." Mommy met her eyes and nodded, smiling. Uncle Huan was looking down at the table, expression blank. He finally looked at her, still silent, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Thank you for everything," she said, understanding his silence perfectly. "For all of it. For me. Always." A single tear ran down his cheek and she knew he understood as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose's jewelry has always been inspired by the exquisite work of René-Jules Lalique.


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Exhausted

Her eyes flew open and she sat up in bed, hand going automatically to her throat. Tupilek stirred beside her, reaching out to rest his hand on her thigh.

"Is it the baby?" he mumbled, blinking to get his own eyes open, fighting back a yawn. "I've got him-"

"No." It came out more sharply than she'd intended. "No, something's wrong."

He sat up as well, peering into the dark of their bedroom. "Is it one of the girls? Did you hear a noise?"

She slid herself out of bed, not even bothering to grab her dressing gown or her slippers, running out into the hallway in her nightgown. Something was very, very wrong.

"Meili? Meili, what is it?" 

She ignored him to fly down the stairs, not even bothering with the banister, feet pattering quickly, hitting the floor in the hall and sprinting for the front door, her heart pounding, still trying to crawl into her throat. Flinging the door open she ran out into the night, down their drive and to the sidewalk beyond, heading for the park across the street.

"Meili!" She registered the shocked tone of her husband's voice but didn't stop, her mind focused on the _wrongness_ , the thing that was driving her to ignore the chill in her feet as she slipped and slid a bit on the icy stone of the path. Where was it? What was it? She turned herself around, trying to find it, and heard the moan before she saw the huddled lump on the ground, barely lit by one of the lamposts.

"Sayuri," she cried, and ran for her, going to her knees, not even registering the the rip of silk and skin where she landed. Her sister was panting, clutching at her swollen abdomen. "Oh fuck, Button, Button, what are you doing here!" She reached for her, hands going straight to her belly, which rippled as her sister cried out. "Oh, Button, you're in labor, what the fuck are you doing out here?"

"I wanted you," Sayuri managed, sobbing in a breath, grimacing. "It hurts."

"Here, here, let me get her." Tupilek was there, in his own pajamas, crouching down. "Meili, help get her into my arms. We'll take her home, we're closer." She strained to move her sister enough that Tupilek could swing her up, grunting with the effort. Button had always been slight, but she was writhing now, not helping. "I've got you, Button, it's okay. It's okay. It's all going to be okay. Shh, now, it's okay." He was calm as he always was, but his eyes when they met hers were startled. Not as calm as he was pretending to be, then.

"I want Meili," Sayuri moaned, and she put her hand on hers.

"Get ahold of yourself," she said, putting on her best healer voice. If Tupilek could do it, so could she. Fuck, but her sister was cold as ice. How long had she been outside? "Whatever foolishness you've been up to I don't know, but we're going to get you inside."

"It hurts," Sayuri wailed, more tears cascading down her face. "Fishy, it hurts." She was so piteous, so frightened that it took everything in her not to snatch her back from Tupilek and make it better.

"It's called labor for a reason, you know. Otherwise they would have called it something else." She managed to hold on to her professionalism by a thread. She waited for Sayuri to make a sarcastic crack in return but all she did was moan again, arching up in Tupilek's arms and he picked up the pace, his own bare feet slipping just a little as he crossed the street.

"Mama? Daddy? What's going on?" Linyi stood in the open doorway in her own pajamas, eyes wide. "Is that...is that Auntie S? Is she okay?"

"Take her upstairs to our bed, I'll be right up," she said to Tupilek, and he nodded. "Linyi, move and let Daddy through, please." Sayuri wailed again and Linyi put her hands to her mouth. She crouched down to her level. "Sugarbun, your aunt is in labor right now."

"You mean the baby is coming?" 

She nodded. "That's right. And I want to ask you a very, very big favor. I can't ask it of anyone else. Do you think you can help me?"

Linyi nodded, her sky blue eyes, so like her father's, resolute. "I can help, Mama."

She managed a smile. "Thank you so much, baby. Do you think you can put on your boots and your coat and hat, and run to Gumpa's house and get Gumma? I don't want to call because I think GrandLo would answer and wake up the house and I only want Gumma. Can you do that? Run there, fast and quiet as you can, and tell Gumma that Auntie S is here and the baby is coming and I need them? Only Gumma, mind. No one else. They'll either be in their room upstairs or with Gumpa and Gumpy. If they're in Gumpa and Gumpy's room then just stand in the door and wait, they'll hear you and wake up."

"Not Uncle Zu?"

"Not right now. Just Gumma."

Linyi thrust her little chin out and nodded again. "I can do that, Mama. You can count on me."

She smiled and kissed her cheek. "I know I can. Thank you. Boots and hat and coat though, it's cold outside. And shut the door behind you so we don't let any more cold air in. It's unlocked. Gumma will bring you back with them."

Linyi was already going into the coat room off the hall, grabbing at her rubber boots. "I'll be super fast, Mama."

"Thank you. I'm going upstairs to help Auntie S, okay?"

"Okay, Mama."

Leaving her daughter to do as she promised - Linyi was a responsible girl, she would do as asked - she ran upstairs to their bedroom, where Tupilek, bless the man, had not only gotten Sayuri to their bed but had stripped her down as well, covering her with blankets. "Her water's already broken and her contractions are about a minute apart," he murmured, glancing at her, his fingers on Sayuri's wrist. "Her pulse is elevated but that's not surprising."

"Fishy?" Sayuri was shivering under the blankets, her eyes glassy.

She sat down on the bed next to her, brushing her hair away from her face. "Sayuri, how long have you been in labor?"

Sayuri closed her eyes, grimacing as another contraction hit, gasping in for air, clutching at Tupilek's hand. _Ow,_ he mouthed at her, making a comical face and she felt a wild urge to laugh, which was his intention, she was sure.

"And why on earth were you in the park?" She tsked, trying without much success to gather Sayuri's curls into a quick braid, out of the way. "It's okay, the contraction will end soon, just ride it out. Pretty soon it'll be time to push."

Sayuri let go of his hand and Tupilek stood up. "I'll go and fetch some things," he said quietly, and once again she marveled at how he could manage every single situation that came his way. "I'll be right back." She turned back to her sister, waiting, her own fingers going to Sayuri's wrist, checking her pulse to reassure herself that she really was fine.

"I was in my workshop-"

"Button! I expressly forbade you to be back there! Too many chemicals and no one to hear if you fell or something!"

"Please don't yell," Sayuri said, eyes welling up again. "I'm sorry."

"No, it doesn't matter, it's okay." She took a breath and kissed her sister's forehead. "Just tell me what happened, I promise I won't yell." _Not now, anyhow._

"I didn't feel very well so I laid down on my cot there and tried to sleep for a bit. I thought Zu would come and get me if he didn't find me in bed but he's been working such long hours on that paper, I think he must have fallen asleep as well." She hissed in a breath and started to writhe again.

"Button, Button, try not to do that. I know it hurts and I know it's scary but tensing up your body makes it worse. Just try to breathe with me." She demonstrated by exaggerating her own breathing, noisily exhaling. "Yes, like that. Good. Better. So you were in your workshop and you fell asleep and then what?"

"I don't know. I woke up and there were contractions and at first I wasn't sure but then I figured it out. And I knew I needed you."

"But, Button, I don't understand. Why didn't you go into the house and call me? Or have Mama or Daddy call me? Why did you try to come here by yourself?"

"I don't know. I needed you." 

She bit back a sigh, knowing there was no point. It was Button-logic, as Zhi called it. Her mind didn't work the way most people's did even on a good day, never mind in the middle of labor. "Okay, so you started to walk over here?" 

"Yes, and it hurt and then it...the wet..."

"Your water broke," she prompted.

"Yes. And I tried to hurry but my legs stopped working." Sayuri clutched at her, lips trembling. "Did I break the baby?"

"No. You did not break the baby. Or yourself. Everything is going to be fine." She dabbed at her sister's eyes with the blanket. "Tupilek went to go get things I'll need and I sent Linyi to go and get Mama."

Sayuri sobbed, grasping her hands in hers, her grip tight enough to be painful. "Is Mama coming?"

"Yes, now stop worrying, okay? I'm going to take good care of you." 

"Okay, okay," Sayuri kept sobbing. "Will it stop hurting so much?"

"Eventually," she said. "Now you need to calm down, okay? Button, calm down. Shhh." 

Tupilek returned with a huge armload of towels and extra pillows, bringing her medical bag as well, arranging everything and making her sister more comfortable, braiding her hair back properly this time, talking to her quietly and helping her breathe through the next contraction as she went into their bathroom and sterilized her hands, bringing out warm water in a basin.

"What's all this, then?" Mama stood in the doorway, clad in a pair of trousers and a simple tunic, hair unbrushed, feet bare. They had hustled to get over here, then. Not that she was surprised.

"Mama!" Sayuri cried, struggling to sit up and their mother sighed as they came in.

"You can imagine my surprise when I heard all about middle of the night strolls through the park while in labor." They sat down on the bed and took Sayuri's hands in theirs. "Next time why don't you come and get me first, hmm?"

"Sorry, Mama, sorry," Sayuri sobbed, and Mama stroked her hair back and kissed her eyes gently, one at a time, settling her back on the pillows.

"Hush now, no one's angry with you. Time to calm down, your sister and I are here, there's no need for all this excitement. Meili's going to take good care of you."

"Where's Zu?" Sayuri asked, snuffling, doing as she was told and Mama snorted, wiping at her eyes and forehead with one of the towels.

"On the sofa in his office, snoring away. It's fine. Linyi or Tupilek can go fetch him later, he wouldn't do any good in here anyhow." They looked at her and nodded. "I sent Linyi back to bed. Not that I think she's probably going to sleep or anything."

"I'll go tuck her back in," Tupilek said, and made his way out.

"Let me take a look and see how dilated she is. Mama, can you pull the blankets down?"

"How did you know she was out there?" Mama asked and she met their gaze, shrugging.

"I don't know," she replied quietly, uncomfortable with the whole thing. She liked her life to be orderly and easily explained. "I just woke up and knew something was wrong and that it was in the park. I really couldn't tell you."

"I wanted you," Sayuri cried, body arching up again. "I wanted you and you came for me. You came for me, you always come for me."

"There you have it," Mama said. "No baby, you have to keep breathing, it'll help. Come on, baby, breathe for me. Hold my hand, there's my girl."

Four hours later her sister, limp and exhausted, managed the final push that brought her nephew squalling into the world, her mother catching him, tears in their eyes as she carefully cleaned him with her bending and they in turn swaddled him in both a diaper and baby blanket, thoughtfully provided by Tupilek. She focused on the afterbirth as Mama hitched in a watery breath, cradling the baby in their arms. She met their eyes and Mama's smile lit the room. "He's beautiful," they said, voice cracking with emotion, and she had to wipe a few tears off with the shoulder of her nightgown, a complete loss after the events of the night. "Is she okay?"

"It wasn't easy for her, but she'll be okay." She kept her hands on Sayuri's belly, easing the remains of the placenta down with her bending, making sure none of it was left behind to fester in her womb. Her bleeding had been heavy but was slowly tempering off. "She's not going to be bouncing back quite yet, though. Good luck keeping her in bed. Maybe we can tie her down."

"I heard that," Sayuri murmured, and Mama sat down next to her, careful not to jostle her, helping her hold her son. 

"So this is a pretty handsome little fellow you have here. Nice work, Button." Mama kissed Sayuri's temple.

"What can I say? Superior gene pool." Sayuri smiled for the first time, eyes on her son, and Meili felt her heart unclench.


	19. Day Nineteen: Escape

She stared down at the sleeping form of her daughter, so small, so helpless, cocooned in a onesie patterned with spirit dragonflies, safely ensconced in the crib that had arrived only two hours after her mother had called Uncle Wu, three people showing up on their doorstep to deliver it as well as a staggering amount of tiny clothes and diapers and other things that babies apparently needed. 

Babies needed so much. So much more than she'd realized, far more than she could possibly hope to give. She shifted the pack on her back and closed her eyes for just a brief moment, willing herself to do what she knew she had to.

She'd shown up with her the day before, wrapped in an old blanket that had been cut down to fit her, a makeshift diaper made of an old tunic, leaking, the baby crying. She'd known it wasn't enough; it was why she'd brought her back, after all, flying over the ocean from the Fire Nation, trusting Boom-Boom to find his way home as she slept in his saddle. She was a lot of things, maybe, but she wasn't stupid. She'd landed in the courtyard by the barn and a few moments later Bu had shown up, looking surprised to see her but not nearly as surprised as when he realized the bundle in her arms was a baby.

"Oh fuck," he said, his mouth dropping open, his chest starting to wheeze a little. "Oh what the fuck did you do?"

"I didn't steal her, if that's what you mean," she snapped, and Bu grimaced.

"That might have been better," he said, and put a hand to her shoulder. "We'd better go inside."

"I should deal with Boom-Boom," she tried to say, but Bu, her brother that was always smiling, looked grim.

"I'll deal with him in a minute. You come inside."

Of course it had all blown up, just like she'd known it would. Mom took one look at her and the baby and went ballistic, completely unhinged. "What the fuck is wrong with you," she practically screamed, snatching the baby out of her arms. "Since when have you been pregnant? Pearl! You are seventeen years old, how the hell did this happen? You answer me right now!" Mom ran to the phone and called the mover studio, told them there was a family emergency and Dad needed to come home right away. Still holding the baby, she called Uncle Sitiak next and asked him for the name of a good midwife, saying that she needed to have someone come by the house. Then she called Uncle Wu and at that point started crying, hardly managing to get anything out, but obviously Uncle Wu had gotten the gist because the baby things started rolling in.

Good old Uncle Wu.

Dad arrived at the same time as the midwife did, while she was finishing some food Mom had given her and his face, when he walked in and understood what was going on, made her want to cry. She'd expected her mother to react this way, but she thought Dad, at least, would be on her side. But he only looked at her and started crying himself before taking the baby out of Mom's arms and putting her up to his shoulder, trying to soothe her.

"I think she's hungry," he said, kissing the top her her head, covered with little wisps of black hair. "Pearl, honey, can you feed her?"

"It's not working," she said, and started to cry as well. "I can't get it to work." The midwife, a comfortably plump woman a little older than Mom and Dad, came and put her arm around her.

"I think I should examine both Pearl and the baby," she said calmly, patting her nicely before rummaging around in her bag, pulling out a tin of baby formula. "You have a bottle? Good. If one of you could feed her this I'll take Pearl here and make sure everything's okay with her first."

"Yes, of course, of course," Mom said, and walked the two of them down the hall to her old bedroom. "Please let us know if there's anything you need." Mom hovered for a moment in the doorway before backing out and closing it behind her.

The midwife was kind, her hands gentle as she used her waterbending to give her an exam down there as well as manipulating her sore, swollen breasts, clucking a little at one point, chatting with her, asking her several questions about the pregnancy and the baby, distracting her from what she was doing, before finally taking her hands away and cleaning them with the water in the container at her side. She smiled. "So, last question. How long ago did you give birth? About two weeks or so?" 

"It was thirteen days ago, at 3:43 in the afternoon Fire Nation time. I made them write it down."

"So someone was there to help you?" The woman smiled encouragingly.

She nodded. "She was a village midwife, I was staying there for a little while."

"Okay, that's good. Well, the thing is, you have a bit of an infection, there was some tearing when you gave birth and the tears haven't been cared for properly. So I'm going to give you some medicine and I need you to take it all, okay? Please don't stop taking it even if you start to feel better. It's important you take it all in a timely manner. Can you do that?" At her nod, the midwife smiled again. "That's wonderful. I tell you what. Why don't you go in and take a nice warm shower and while you're doing that I'll check the baby as well. How does that sound?"

"It sounds okay," she said, starting to cry again.

"Everything's going to be just fine," she said, and helped her off the bed and into the bathroom. "You just give a yell if you need anything."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

She swallowed, looking down. "If a mother...if she doesn't want to feed the baby, what can she do? To stop the milk, I mean."

The woman was quiet for a moment, watching her. "Well, if that happens, there is a tincture she can take that will help the milk dry up. And normally binding the breasts will help as well. I know you've been having trouble feeding her, Pearl, but believe it or not, that's not that unusual. It happens to first time mothers all the time, and even experienced ones as well. It just takes time and patience to work with the baby, but I can help you with that as can your mother, of course. Don't worry about it, it will be fine, I promise."

She refused to look at the woman. "But if I don't want to. I mean...can the baby drink the baby milk in the tin and be okay?"

The woman put a hand to her shoulder. "Yes. Of course it's good if the mother can feed the baby, but obviously that can't always happen, for a variety of reasons. Babies raised on tinned baby milk are just fine. But you shouldn't worry about that right now, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay."

"Good. Then why don't you take that shower while I look at that beautiful daughter of yours."

She obediently took her shower, letting herself relax just a little, not even hearing when someone came in and took away her filthy clothes, replacing them with loose, clean clothing. Mom, probably. She hadn't been able to fit into her old wingsuit for quite some time and had finally just left it behind. Drying herself off carefully, she dressed and started to go back to her bedroom but stopped, hearing Mom and the midwife talking in the hall. Creeping up to the door of her bedroom, she listened.

"...she's got some tearing that is infected and that should have been properly stitched but there's not much I can do about it now, it's already started healing and I'd rather not undo any of that. There will be some scarring but we can probably help with some of that later. I have given her medicine for the infection and she'll be fine so long as she takes the entire course. According to her she's had trouble feeding the baby, and I can see that. The baby is quite underweight, I'm concerned. She's not thriving."

Her breath started to hitch up and her hands trembled. She knew the baby wasn't getting enough to eat but she hadn't known it was that bad.

Mom's voice was very, very worried. "What can we do for her?"

"You'll need to supplement your daughter's breastmilk until such time as she can take over completely. One of her breasts is infected as well, although the medicine will take care of that."

"Cabbage leaves, right? I used those a few times myself."

"Yes, absolutely right. Those will help relieve her discomfort." A slight pause. "Your daughter did not seem...enthusiastic...about the idea of breastfeeding. Which isn't unusual or worrisome in itself, most of us probably feel that way at one time or another."

Her mother snorted. "I know I sure did."

"But I need to be honest with you, Madame Beifong. She's very young. She's clearly very healthy, which is a good thing, of course. Physically, I think she'll recover, and I didn't find anything in my initial examination which would prove to be an issue with her having children in the future. What Pearl needs right now is plenty of rest, good food, and care."

"I'll be staying home with her, of course. That's not an issue. I've got my work on the Island but someone can cover for me as long as necessary."

"Great, that's just great. And for the time being I'll be coming over every day to check on the baby's progress."

"Of course."

"There's certain goals we need the baby to meet, I can discuss them with you and your husband tonight and then discuss it with Pearl tomorrow." Another pause. "I am concerned about Pearl's emotional well-being. She's very distant from the baby. She knows when she was born, but hasn't named her yet and if she does know who the father is, she wouldn't say, or at least not to me. Apparently she gave birth in a village in the Fire Nation. I'm not sure how long she was there for."

"Oh...I..." Mom started to cry again. "We had no idea she was even pregnant. She's been writing us letters but we thought she was at the Western Air Temple! That's what she told us. I don't...I have no idea if any of what she's been writing is true or not, none at all."

"The important thing right now is that she brought the baby home, where both she and her daughter can be cared for properly. I know this must be a shock to you and your husband, but what Pearl needs is rest, nourishment, and plenty of support. There's been some trauma, both physically and otherwise that she needs help with."

"In other words, now is not the time to find out what happened." Mom sighed. "I understand."

"Good. And as I say, I'll be checking in once a day." The two of them moved then, back down the hall, out of earshot.

She hadn't even realized she was pregnant, not until it was so obvious that it couldn't be ignored. She hadn't felt sick at all, hadn't been unduly tired, and had never gotten all that big, not even right before the baby was born. The father? There were a couple of choices; an air acolyte at the Western Air Temple, a Fire Nation boy on one of the islands, or possibly his friend over a few wild nights that involved a threesome with the both of them. The fisherman's son that she let take her in his mother's boat just the once. She'd had her fun, enjoyed herself, and even used the herbs like she was supposed to! How could she have gotten pregnant? She still didn't know.

She'd kept sending the letters to her parents, telling them she was at the temple, because she didn't want them to know. She knew they'd be upset and Mom would yell and make things difficult. And they'd want her to come home, might even come looking for her themselves. Mom hadn't wanted her to go in the first place, kept insisting she was too young, too immature, wanted her to stay in school for a couple more years. She'd won Dad over to her side, though, and Granny had even come all the way from Zaofu to help convince Mom. _Come on, I was on my own at her age, and it did me a world of good! Best thing that could have happened to me. Think of all she'll learn, Opal._

 _That's what I'm afraid of,_ Mom had said, unhappy. But eventually they'd worn her down and she and Boom-Boom had taken off, heading to the Southern Air Temple for a bit. She hadn't liked it there; Uncle Meelo and Auntie Dolma had gotten it into their heads that she needed supervision and kept her busy doing things she didn't want to. She'd only lasted two months there before she'd headed off to the Western Air Temple. It was the only one that didn't have any airbenders living there on a permanent basis; just air acolytes that kept it up and were there to see to the needs of the airbenders that were visiting for whatever reason. That was much more like it! She'd had her freedom there, had had a lot of fun, doing as she pleased, living her own life instead of the one that everyone else seemed to want for her. She was done with school, done with rules, done with being treated like a child. 

She didn't know, even now, why she kept the baby. She could have done something about it, even if she hadn't figured it all out until she was about five months along. She had felt like it was a good thing, having a baby; she and the baby could travel the world together! Just the two of them and Boom-Boom. And sure, maybe at some point she'd need to put her kid in school but not for awhile, right? Women had everything they needed for a baby, you could just slap a boob on in there and the baby'd be good to go.

She was so very, very wrong. How could she have been so wrong?

She'd left the Western Temple, knowing that when they figured out she was pregnant the acolytes would tell her parents. She told them she was going back the Southern Temple and they had no reason to doubt her. She traveled a bit and it was true, what Bu said; villages, for the most part, were excited to see an airbender and would put her up as a guest without asking anything in return. As her time got closer she had thought about going home: to her parents or even to her grandparents, possibly. She'd even thought about going to the Capital City, asking the Firelord for help. She'd only met her a few times but she knew Sozui, her younger brother, very well and didn't think they'd kick her out or anything. But in the end she'd dithered too long and then it was too late, the baby was coming and she was all alone, in some fishing village no one had ever heard of with some stranger helping her, wanting her mother so much she'd nearly been sick with it.

She'd fucked up, so badly. And now they'd want her to stay here, stay and raise the baby, live in this house with her parents and probably go back to school and be chained to this life that she had never wanted. She couldn't take it, she just couldn't. She just couldn't.

"Pearl, sweetie?" Her mother was standing there, tentatively smiling. "Can I come in?" At her nod her mother entered and put a box on her night table along with a glass of water. "The midwife left these for you, she wrote out the instructions. They're for the infection."

"Okay." She took one of the pills and swallowed it down.

"Listen...I just...I want to apologize. I didn't react very well. It's, well..."

"Not what you expected?" She risked a glance at her and Mom took her hand in hers.

"No, not really. But I'm sorry I shouted at you. It wasn't helpful, to say the least." Mom took a moment. "Your father and I...well. You know we'll support you, right? You are our daughter, Pearl, and we love you. And it will be okay. The midwife is here to help as well and we'll get everything squared away with you and the baby. I've already called Jinora and told her I need to take some time, so I'll be here with you as long as you need me. We put the baby in our room for tonight so you can rest. Is that okay with you?"

She nodded. "Sure."

"Tomorrow we can move her crib into here for you." Another pause as her mother stroked her thumb along her hand. "Have you thought of a name for her yet?"

She shrugged again.

"Well, it's fine, nothing that needs to be done tonight. In fact, I think the best thing would be for you to just crawl into bed and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a new day. A better day, okay?" Mom held open the covers and she got into bed, letting Mom smooth them down. She leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Just sleep tonight. Everything's going to be okay. I love you, sweetie." Another kiss and then Mom turned out the light when she closed the door.

She waited until they were all sound asleep, her mother and brother snoring, her father's breathing slow and deep. She packed up a bag with a few changes of clothing and some other things she thought she might need, making sure she included the pills the midwife had left. She carefully bound her breasts with a length of her bedsheet she'd cut up, wincing at the pain, trying to ignore how they leaked. She wasn't sure what tincture she needed to stop the milk but now that she knew there was one any good apothecary could help her. She still had some money that Granny had sent her back at the Western Temple, she'd be okay for awhile, anyhow. Taking a piece of paper from her old desk, she wrote six words.

_Her name is Emerald_

_I'm sorry_

She opened her eyes to take one last look at her sleeping daughter, so very small and beautiful. So perfect. She deserved everything she knew she couldn't give her. "You'll be so much happier here with them than you ever could be with me," she breathed, allowing herself one last touch to the baby's soft cheek. Putting the note in the crib, she walked out of her life.


	20. Day Twenty: Christmas Present

There ended up being a good-sized crowd helping him renovate the boat.

It had started out with the Avatar, a fellow Southern Water Tribeswoman, who had shown up one night out of the blue to the beach on Air Temple Island where he had her dry-docked, taking up a brush and helping him patch the hull with tar. A few nights later Meili's father and grandfather appeared as well. Her father clearly knew nothing of boats but was quick to learn and his firebending turned out to be an asset. Her grandfather had served many years in the Navy and not only knew boats forwards and backwards but kept them all amused with various shanties, some of them so cheerfully filthy that he'd laughed until his sides ached.

A few days after that Sitiak had shown up to join them; a Northern Water Tribesman, tall and quiet, who took over the deep blue canvas sails, his healer's fingers dexterous with needles and thread, Meili's first teacher. His partner, Meili's handsome uncle Wei, hadn't known a thing about boats and wasn't particularly quick to learn but seemed content to run whatever errands were necessary, fetching supplies and doing whatever odd jobs he could manage, singing along with all the various shanties.

Others joined them as the days passed. Meili's birth mother, Yumi, Master Iskani and Captain Tanka's sister, who had grown up on Kyoshi Island and spent much of her girlhood on her mother's ship, her considerable strength appreciated when it came to the heavy lifting. Meili's other uncle, Bolin, mostly got in the way but could tell a good story, which was a skill appreciated down south. Rohan was there most nights, working alongside him, careful with his own healer's hands.

He'd been introduced to the handsome young firebender and his equally handsome uncle who had showed up for about a week of shore leave but it took him half the first evening to realize it was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and the commander of the United Republic Navy who were sanding the new masts. He wasn't sure what surprised him more; the fact that they'd actually shown up or how casual everyone else there had been with them.

He wasn't sure why he was surprised. Meili's father was the former king of the Earth Kingdom, not a simple schoolteacher like his own father. His mother might be the Harbormaster of Harbor City but his family were just regular working folk with no sort of noteworthy connections. He understood that these people were important people in Meili's life and that short of Rohan they were most likely trying to get a better sense of who he was and what his intentions were; he wasn't offended, however. If anything, he approved. He was an unknown, someone from outside their sphere in more ways than one. Meili was an independent woman who clearly could make up her own mind but her family was looking out for her. Wouldn't his parents do the same for him?

He'd seen, underneath the soot and years of neglect, that his boat was a pretty little lady, a small fishing junk with a cabin and a sweet curve to her bow, her lines long and lean. He thought, once they had her seaworthy and rigged up, that she'd fly. He sincerely hoped that Meili's family could see some good qualities under his average looks and no more than capable waterbending and that his humble background would not be a deterrent in gaining their approval.

The more he'd gotten to know her, the more he had liked Meili. She was an exquisite woman, of course; tall, with a shapely figure and a breathtaking face, her glowing bronze skin flawless and her cobalt eyes surrounded by dark, thick lashes. Her hair, which was usually pulled into a no-nonsense knot at work was a spill of soft dark brown curls, reaching to her waist, in defiance of current fashion. There was no point in trying to deny her beauty and Meili, as an imminently practical woman, would most likely be irritated with someone who tried to gain her favor by ignoring or dismissing it. It was as much a part of her as her waterbending was.

And what a waterbender she was! He had overheard her dismiss, on more than one occasion, her waterbending prowess as something due merely to fortunate training opportunities as opposed to any innate gift. He was genuinely puzzled as to why she thought that; as a waterbender himself he knew skill and talent when he saw it. He supposed it might have to do with her older sister, who was known as one of the best firebenders in the world. Any bender, of course, would benefit from excellent training. But he was a realist himself and knew that he might have received the best training in the world but still wouldn't hold a candle to Meili.

He thought, short of her family, that her beauty and her bending were all most people saw about her. Bothered to see about her, more like. They missed how genuinely compassionate she was, how much she truly cared for the people she was helping at the clinic. It mattered to her, that these people needed help that they couldn't get anywhere else. She worked herself to the bone and one of the reasons Natsiq had asked him to relocate was that she and Rohan hadn't been able to get Meili to keep reasonable hours at the clinic. She'd stay long into the night, burning the candle at both ends, trying to do more, be more. Even her parents hadn't been able to slow her down, although he was sure they'd tried. _You'll have to take a firm hand with her,_ Natsiq had written. _If she doesn't pace herself she'll wear herself out and she's more than just the patron of this clinic. She's its heart and we couldn't do it without her._

She did have a stubborn streak in her and more than a little bit of an issue with control, he'd seen that right off. Not because she thought she knew better than anyone else but rather because she liked things to be orderly, easy to predict. He thought that's why she both loved and clearly wanted to strangle her baby sister on a regular basis. He found Sayuri delightful but then again he wasn't the one she was trying to scandalize, either. Meili was deeply loving and loyal to her family, something which appealed to him as well. He loved his family and wasn't sure how he'd feel about a woman who disliked her own. He liked her father, Mako, very much - he was a plainspoken man, and a decent one, he reminded him more than a bit of his mother - and her royal father, Prince Wu, was as idiosyncratic as his youngest daughter and very amusing. He wasn't sure how to feel about her mother; he suspected they were not sure of him yet either and kept their civil distance. They were the one, he suspected, that would require him to prove himself somehow, although he wasn't sure how.

He'd written to his father a few weeks after he'd arrived, a heartfelt missive where he laid it all out to him, how he felt about Republic City, his loneliness as the clinic kept him so busy he rarely had time to make friends, the rightness of the work he was doing, and, in retrospect, far too much about the princess who ran the clinic. His father had written him a brief letter in return; all it had said was:

_A woman like that deserves a boat worthy of her, son._

He'd gone out looking for a boat the next day. There had been other choices, of course; boats that were in far better shape, ones that weren't neglected or damaged, bigger boats and smaller. But he was a patient man and he wasn't afraid of hard work. He'd waited until he found the right one, one that he knew would be worthy of her, and then, as always, he'd rolled up his sleeves and did what he needed to do to put it to rights.

He was about halfway through the renovation the day she'd kissed him at the clinic and he'd told himself to be cautious, to keep in mind that she was overtired when it happened and that she might regret it. He'd lay there that night, in his room on the Island, listening to the waves crash against the shore, his heart slamming in his chest, just like he was a teenager again. He'd seen how she ruthlessly shut down anything that might possibly be perceived as a weakness before; she never wanted to make mistakes or show vulnerability. It wasn't because she didn't feel, he could see that. On the contrary; Meili was, he was sure, a woman of deep and passionate feeling. Keeping it all locked away inside was how she maintained order.

He wanted to be the one who could keep order for her, who allowed her to get messy sometimes, both literally and figuratively. He wanted to see her let go; to laugh without restraint, to dance under the moon, to come into his arms and trust him enough to see her through. He knew she was smart, compassionate and assured. He'd seen Princess Meili the Healer, her public persona. But over the months he'd also gotten glimpses of her sass, her righteous anger and yes, even her despair, kept carefully hidden behind those measured smiles and gracious words.

She was a waterbender, damn it. Still waters might run deep with her but he knew there were strong currents there. How else could she come to that clinic, day after day, helping people who were not always grateful in return? 

She'd returned two days after the kiss - her mother had put their foot down and made her stay home and rest, he was coming to understand who really ran that house, despite all appearances to the contrary - and as he'd stuck his head out of the storeroom to greet her she'd actually blushed, the color fierce enough to suffuse the dark tone of her skin. Natsiq, no idiot herself, had raised both eyebrows and grinned, clearly pleased. He'd thought, for all that time, that he'd need to wait for Meili to make the first move, but he realized he was wrong. Everyone expected Meili to make the first move; to be responsible for every situation she was part of, to call all the shots. She wore that mantle of responsibility with grace, certainly. He suspected it was a heavy weight, however. That night, as they were closing up the clinic, he asked her if she wanted to go and grab some seaweed noodles after work.

He'd surprised her; she dithered in a way that was unusual for her and then asked everyone else if they were going. Natsiq immediately declined, claiming prior plans. Rohan started to accept until Natsiq trod heavily on his foot; with a yelp he also declined. Ming just scoffed and said she had better things to do then spend an evening with a bunch of waterbenders. He wasn't sure whether she was going along with Natsiq or actually meant it but he didn't care in the moment. He'd called for a cab and they'd gone to a hole in the wall place he'd found earlier, the noodles hot and tangy, the restaurant loud and boisterous with recent immigrants like himself. Meili was beautiful, yes, but didn't look like a princess in the plain tunic and trousers she wore to work and he'd ordered them food and even some vodka, which she automatically refused before narrowing her eyes and determinedly shooting it, coughing out her shock as it burned down her throat. He couldn't help himself; he'd started to laugh and after a moment she'd thrown her head back and had laughed as well, a real laugh, unconstrained, the first one he'd ever seen, her face illuminated with delight, complete with a few snorts.

Oh spirits but he was so helplessly in love with her.

By the end of dinner she'd taken another shot and had unbent enough to joke with some of the folks at the restaurant, recalling the story of her own ice dodging that she'd done as a teenager, earning herself the Mark of the Brave, which surprised him a little. He'd taken the Trusted himself, as expected. He'd have marked her down as Wisdom, for sure. But there it was. Meili had hidden depths that he was still navigating.

He'd taken her home via cab as well, chatting pleasantly with her the entire time, keeping the flow of conversation away from work. Meili had a tendency to speak of nothing else and while he was the first one to admire her dedication he also knew she deserved to have a life for herself outside it. They'd pulled up to the house and he'd asked the cabbie to wait as he walked her to the door; he'd returned to the drive to find the cab had already left. He'd been wondering if he could possibly find another when a sleek black car had pulled up next to him, her mother in the driver's seat. Ah. He knew what that was about, then. He got in and they drove him to the dock, not speaking, not that it would be easy to hold a conversation in a car that didn't have a roof the way this one didn't. He supposed he should be frightened but wasn't; he'd heard enough of Meili's mother to know that if they had really wanted to do something untoward he'd never know they were coming. They pulled up to the dock and they cut the engine, the ferry to the Island barely visible in the distance on the bay, returning to the city.

"Mako tells me you're making good progress on your boat," they finally said, lighting up a cigarette and offering him one. He shook his head; he'd never smoked.

"It's coming along," he replied cautiously.

They nodded slowly and smoked for a bit, still watching the ferry come in. "It was a good thing you sent her home. Meili takes care of everyone but herself."

"She wouldn't have forgiven herself if she had cared poorly for a patient."

They shot him a sharp look at that but said nothing, smoking the rest of their cigarette and watching the ferry dock. "You'd best be going, that ferry waits for no one." 

"Thank you for the ride," he replied politely, and they just nodded. He'd expected them to say something else but they didn't, just waiting and watching as he greeted the ferry's first mate, finally pulling away as the ferry did the same. He wasn't sure if he had passed whatever test he knew he'd been given, but that seemed to be the end of it, so he supposed he had.

He'd started taking Meili out more often then; she'd invited him to several family dinners where he finally met her older brother and cousin, back in town for a time. He'd come for dinner one night and had been faced, without warning, with an entire entourage; her family from Zaofu, who had apparently come without Meili's knowledge. "I cannot believe you," she'd hissed at her aunt, the newly elected president of Zaofu, and the woman had merely laughed, kissing Meili's cheek with genuine fondness.

"Be glad we waited this long because you know I had to practically sit on Su," she'd replied tartly, and then had come forward to greet him.

They continued to work on his boat and she was beautiful when she was done; all of her wood, new and old, sanded and polished and gleaming, her blue sails crisp, the small cabin meticulously clean, all of her ropes fresh and still stiff with it, the anchor, that had been a surprise gift from Meili's venerable grandmother, safely coiled in its place. All she needed to sail was her name painted on her and a berth at the city's docks.

He'd gone to make the usual arrangements with the Harbormaster, not expecting a particularly good berth; it was a huge city, after all, and he was a nobody with very little yuan to spend. He'd been startled when the Harbormaster had granted him an excellent berth in the fashionable north marina, alongside the yachts of the wealthy residents of that part of town, for the same minimal fee he'd expect to pay for a worn and splintered dock in the southside. When he questioned the man he'd just grunted and told him he needed the name of the boat for his records, giving him a quelling look over the tops of his glasses. Meili's family, he suspected. He wasn't sure how he felt about it - he didn't have much but he had enough to care for his boat - but he wasn't exactly surprised, once he had a moment to consider it. Would her family really want her picking her way through that very rough part of town, overrun with Triads? He suspected not. For that matter, he wouldn't want it either. He had registered the boat and said nothing more about it.

He'd offered the maiden voyage, from the Island to her new berth, to all of the crew that had helped him and they all accepted. He'd been a little surprised when Meili's royal father and mother had shown up as well; it was the first time either had come anywhere near his boat. Her father had been well wrapped in a coat against the wind, however, his green eyes twinkling behind his lenses. "I'm told that it is tradition for boats to have their names painted on the nose," he'd said.

"Bow," corrected Meili's other father.

"Yes, yes, nose, bow, I'm sure it all works out the same." Her father had waved that away. "In any case, my dear boy, I thought I would offer my services." He patted a bag slung over his shoulder.

"Wu's got the best handwriting I've ever seen," said Korra, and had nodded at the former king, who seemed surprised that she would acknowledge it.

"Hmmm. Yes. Well. I assume you have proper seagoing paint, as it were? Show me where you would like it and how large?" He'd shown her father where the name should be and approximately how large and then cleared his throat.

"Her name is _Meili_."

Her father gazed at him for a long moment before smiling. "I see." He took out what looked to be a very large calligraphy brush from the bag and, using the paint provided, confidently wrote out _Meili_ on both sides of the bow, the lettering beautiful indeed. He bracketed the name with two small koi swimming around each other; it wasn't at all traditional, but it looked somehow right to have it there. "There now," he said with great satisfaction before cleaning his brush and returning it to its bag.

He'd looked over to see her mother watching him, expressionless, before nodding once at him, arms crossed. Wei had gone to them and put his arm around them, whispering in their ear, finally getting a small smile from them.

"Looks good," her other father had said, wrapping his arms around his husband from behind, leaning down to kiss the top of his head.

"Oh, Mako, it seems like yesterday she was so tiny," he replied, and Tupilek knew which Meili he was speaking of. Her father had rummaged in his bag again and pulled out a bottle of champagne. "Now, doesn't tradition dictate we are supposed to smack the boat with this and waste a perfectly good bottle of bubbly?" Korra had snatched it out of his hands and waved it about before handing it to him, and he'd taken a deep breath before striding towards his beautiful, beautiful boat, christening her as they'd all cheered.

They'd all of them but the former king helped to get _Meili_ into the water, he and Sitiak on either side controlling the sea, Korra bending the sand, the rest putting their backs into shoving her, ungainly until she slid into her natural element, the three waterbenders working together to get her safely clear of the beach. Everyone had waded through the water to get aboard but the former king; he'd fussed until Yumi, laughing, had perched him on her shoulders like a child, the man squawking and protesting until he'd been unceremoniously dumped aboard, brushing at his clothes. Korra bent the water away from everyone as Sitiak had helped him raise her sails. She was riding a little low due to the extra weight but she'd manage until the marina, he knew. 

He was right; despite it all she flew, skipping merrily along the waves, the feel of her under his bare feet so natural, so right that he couldn't stop smiling. He'd sailed her into her new berth and secured her before offering to buy everyone a round at the pub there at the marina. It was not really his kind of place - a little too clean, a little too highbrow - but it seemed to suit the occasion. They'd all toasted her and Meili's mother had bought the next round, which he hoped meant they approved as well.

It was three nights later, when the moon was full, that he brought Meili to the marina. He held her hand and led her down the dock as she smiled, looking about her.

"Have you rented a boat for us?" she asked, but he didn't reply, just bringing her to her namesake, standing back and letting her look around. "I love her blue sails," she said, and then trailed off as she saw the name painted on the bow. She put a hand to her mouth and when she turned to him her eyes had filled with tears.

"Would you do me the honor of coming aboard?" he asked, and she nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. He leapt to her deck and held out his hand, guiding her steps, before uncoupling her, stowing her rope and going to raise her sails. "Watch your head," he said, and she obediently ducked. "You can go take a look at her, if you like."

"I'll wait for you," she said, and caught the rope out of his hands. "I can handle the sails. You take the rudder. Let's take her out first, then you can give me the tour, what do you say?"

He'd smiled and nodded, walking past her to the stern, taking the rudder in his hands, carefully guiding her out of the marina as Meili expertly trimmed the sails, not forgetting the lessons she'd learned in her time down south. The delicate blue leather choker with the ivory pendant that he'd painstakingly crafted nestled in its place in the pocket over his heart. Laughing into the wind for joy, he'd looked up at the moon. "Blessed Yue," he'd murmured. "Thank you for steering me here." He glanced back at Meili, who was watching him expectantly. "Ready about," he called, and she nodded.

"Aye aye, captain," she called in return, and his heart, like _Meili_ , began to dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have zero knowledge of boats and relied on Wikipedia for this. If I have made any mistakes I'd appreciate a heads up! :)


	21. Day Twenty-One: Winter

He was sitting in Ma's office, going through the monthly trade report, when Tseten stuck his head in the door.

"Hey, guess what?"

He looked up, grinning. "Scuttlebutt."

Tseten grinned in return. "Nuh uh. Guess again!" Of all his three siblings, he was the one that resembled Ma the most; same snub nose, same gray eyes, same wide mouth and messy fall of brown, cowlicked hair. Katara was pure Beifong with those distinctive hooded, pale green eyes and her thick, straight black hair. Baby Bhuti was a multi-generational mix up, with Grampy Baatar's olive eyes and dark brown hair that curled and Grandma Pema's delicately pointed chin and sweet smile. 

He didn't look like any of them, of course.

"All of the bison have gone on strike and refuse to eat anything but melons."

Tseten giggled and shook his head. "That's just silly."

"Silly, am I?" He launched himself up from the desk to grab his little brother, hauling him up and turning him upside down in his arms, mock-shaking him as Tseten practically screamed with laughter. "I'll shake it right out of you, then!"

"I'll never tell!"

He flipped Tseten around and settled him on his hip. He was nearly ten now, thin and gangly, not usually what people thought of when they thought earthbender. Then again, neither was Ba. He knew Tseten would pass him up sooner rather than later; he'd never gotten all that tall, not even as tall as Ma. It'd bothered him when he was a teenager but he'd made his peace with it now, the same way he'd made his peace with his dark skin and eyes. He was who he was.

He didn't remember much of the time before he'd come to the Temple. A few hazy memories; the damp, rank smell of the large tent he spent most of his days in, the sharp, angry sound of a woman's voice endlessly scolding him, the fear of a man with an unremembered face who would always hurt him if he didn't keep out of his way. Da had told him he was malnourished and covered with bruises when he'd first come to them but he didn't really remember any of that. He did remember burying his face in Blue's fur and laying in a warm bed, Dolly in his arms, Da's hands and voice gentle as he softly caressed his head and sang him to sleep. Da had been the first gentle thing he'd ever known, that much he knew.

He loved his father, very much.

Amak had been the only other kid up on the mountain when he arrived, although she'd been older than him and had eventually left, headed down south to study engineering like Da; her mother, Mauja, was still with them and had eventually given them two more little ones, twins that had split neatly into both waterbending and earthbending. Hua had shown up fairly soon and had what seemed like an endless stream of siblings (Auntie Bora's fecundity being an inside joke around the mountain) and newly widowed Yudran had come to them with his baby son Dhargay, already moving the air about him. His own little Yimu, the light of his life, was a surprise, but a welcome one, and Kelden was expecting again. Ma, being Ma, welcomed everyone with open arms and her easy smile. The mountain echoed with the sound of children now.

Tseten wrapped his legs around his waist. "Come on, guess!"

"Hmmm, let's see. We're having nothing but cake for dinner."

"I wish!" Tseten was known for his sweet tooth; he surely did wish. "No, someone came home! Bet you'll never guess who, though!"

He started to walk with Tseten still wrapped around him and then Yimu came barreling around the corner, clad in nothing but a diaper. "Da! Da!" Yimu threw himself at him and he scooped him up with his free hand, settling him on his other hip. 

"Oh no! It's too much for me! Can't make it...can't...make...it..." He slowly went to one knee, groaning and, after making sure he had them positioned correctly, fell to his back with a larger groan. "Help...it's an attack of snow monsters!" His brother and son shrieked and pounced on him, making growling noises and blowing raspberries on him as he faux-struggled. "No! I'll get you!" He flipped up Tseten's tunic and pretended to gnaw on him. "Back, foul snowbeast!" A weight slammed into his solar plexus with a ululating screech; ah, Bhuti had joined the fray. "No! Another snow monster! I am undone!" 

He wrestled the three of them through Ma's Corridor, careful with Yimu, who was still too little to watch out for himself and of Bhuti, who had a tendency to get pretty wild and who had nailed him in very vulnerable places more than once. It was snowing outside, the light through all the colored glass muted, and he was on all fours, Bhuti and Yimu on his back, (Bhuti whacking him enthusiastically) Tseten on the floor in front of him as he blew raspberries all over his exposed belly, laughing hysterically and kicking his legs, trying to get away. "I have you now, snow monster! You'll never escape me!" he said between raspberries, laughing as Yimu giggled moistly in his ear.

"Three against one doesn't seem exactly fair," said a voice above him, clearly amused, and he grinned. 

"Ma! Ma! I a no-monsser!"

"Oh, I can see that! Are you trying to eat your da?" Kelden laughed, leaning down to kiss Yimu, her tiny braids swinging over her shoulder. "This little snow monster was supposed to be taking a bath."

"Ah, that would explain the lack of fur." He reached around and held Yimu steady as he arched his back and let Bhuti tumble slowly to the floor. "Did you escape, snow monster? Did you run away from Ma?"

"I runded, Da!" Yimu giggled. 

"I'll just bet you did! Well, I tell you what, how about I grab you and your auntie here-" and here he snatched Bhuti back up as well as he stood "-and we can try the whole bath thing again, hmm?"

"I don't need a bath!" Bhuti's mouth dropped open in outrage.

"Listen, I can't even find your face for all the grime. It's happening." He kissed Kelden. "I've got it."

"Are you sure?" She smiled at him.

"MA! Goba says he's going to make me take a bath with Yimu! Tell him I don't have to!" 

Ma, coming into the corridor, laughed. "Excellent plan! You're a human smudge."

"No fair! Tseten has to take one too!"

"Hey, I took a bath last night," Tseten said, backing away. "You're the one that's dirty, not me."

Goba hauled Bhuti up higher under his armpit, her struggles increasing as she realized there would be no getting away. "Quit wiggling, it's happening." Glancing over at Ma, he opened his mouth to say something but shut it when he realized there was someone standing behind her, a tall woman, tanned and with cropped hair, wearing a slightly battered wingsuit. "Hello."

The woman snorted and rolled her eyes. "That's it? That's all I get? A hello? Nice."

Kelden crossed the room quickly to throw her arms around the woman. "You sneaky thing! You didn't tell me you were coming home!" The woman crouched down to hug her in return, her smile broad.

"I did, actually, but I'm guessing by that my last letter hasn't arrived yet."

"Well, you know how the mail goes." Kelden took a step backwards. "You look amazing. All of that Fire Nation sun, you're nearly as dark as I am!"

"I wish!" She glanced back over in his direction. "And that must be your little Yimu. My mother was right, he does look just like you. And Bhuti! I can't believe it! You were still so little when I left!" She crouched down a bit to peer at both his son and little sister. "I'm guessing you were too little to remember me, hmm?"

"I remember you though!" Tseten went to her and the woman tousled his hair with a grin.

"I don't remember you," Bhuti said, and quit her squirming. "Who are you?"

The woman laughed and at that exact moment he knew her. "Hua?" His voice rose and cracked, as he stared at her, incredulous. "Hua?"

"Unreal," Hua said, and rolled her eyes again. "Did I really change that much in four years?"

"It's not like you could get much taller," Ma said, grinning, and put her arm around Hua, drawing her close. "Bhuti, you were pretty small, but this is Hua, Auntie Bora and Uncle Yung's oldest daughter."

"Oh! Okay!" Taking advantage of his inattention, Bhuti managed to free herself, trotting over to Hua. "Auntie Bora misses you a lot, she talks about you all the time."

"Well I missed her too. And all the rest of you!" Hua winked down at Bhuti. "She and my Dad don't know I'm home yet."

"Hua, you didn't!" Ma gave her a little push. "Your poor mother, she was sure we wouldn't see you until spring."

"I'll admit I was regretting the last leg of the trip a bit, it was pretty cold and wet. My own fault, I should have left Republic City sooner, I know how early winter comes here. Kaba didn't mind it, though. Speaking of which, I have a lot to unload, I really should get back to it."

"Do you know the amount of ruckus your mother is going to cause if she finds you in the stables unloading that bison before you've gone to see her?" Ma shook her head. "Oh no you don't. Tseten?"

"Yes, Ma?"

"Do me a favor and go find your Da and tell him Hua is home and we need to unload Kaba, would you? I think he's in his office."

"Sure, Ma!"

"Me too!" cried Bhuti, and took off with him, neatly evading her bath yet once again. She had a gift.

"No tattoos yet?" Kelden asked, and Hua's smile in return was wistful.

"They would have done it on the Island but I told Jinora I wanted Uncle Huan to do them for me."

"Oh, Huan will love that," Ma said, and hugged her again. "It will mean so much to him that you waited."

"This is my home, Auntie Ikki." 

"Good," his mother said, with a firm emphasis that was unlike her. "Well, should we..." she trailed off as she looked about her. "You know what? I think I'm just going to take my grandson here and give him a bath." She neatly scooped Yimu out of his arms. "And damn it, Bhuti got away from me again, didn't she? That girl is better at avoiding baths than my brother was and that's saying something." She kissed Yimu's cheek. "Let's you and me go and see about a bath, hmm? And maybe we'll get Grandba to find your auntie as well, what do you say?"

"I a no-monsser, Gran!"

"A snow monster that needs a scrub!" Ma nodded at Hua. "Don't take too long or else your mother will hear from someone else you're here and we all know what that'll mean."

"I promise, Auntie Ikki." Hua threw her arms around his mother a last time. "I'll be right down."

"All right, then." Ma walked out of the corridor, chatting with Yimu about snow monsters and baths. He stood there awkwardly, trying not to stare at Hua. It wasn't that she had changed all that much in four years; she was tanned, certainly, and her long, rather frizzy hair had been cropped short, which far better suited her sharp cheekbones and stubborn jaw. She'd lost all of her teenage baby fat and looked more muscular than she had if her wingsuit was anything to go by. Nothing unusual in that, obviously. All in all she still looked like Hua.

He was guessing it was more of an attitude thing. Sixteen year old Hua had walked around with a permanent slouch no matter how often Auntie Bora had poked her and told her to stand up straight. She'd mumbled a lot, avoided eye contact, a near-constant frown on her face. The woman standing in front of him - and she was a woman, clearly, this Hua was no longer a girl - stood tall with easy confidence, grinning at him. He wasn't at all sure what to make of her. 

"Snow monster got your tongue?" she asked with a smirk. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Uh, no! Sorry, didn't mean to stare. You uh..." he mentally kicked himself. Fuck's sake! He was a Beifong, a grown man, a master airbender himself, his mother's second in command up here. What was his damn problem! He glanced at Kelden only to catch her looking at him the same way she looked at Yimu when she was lovingly tolerating his baby nonsense. She sighed and shook her head at him before turning back to Hua.

"Since I didn't get your last letter I'm assuming you probably didn't get mine as well."

Hua thought for a moment. "The Firelord had a collection of them for me that she hadn't sent on to the Temple yet, I picked them up before I headed back to Republic City, after I said my goodbyes. You were telling me about Katara's beehives, among other things."

"Oh, then you did miss out on one!"

"Wait," he interjected, trying to catch up. "How many letters were the two of you writing each other?"

They ignored him. Kelden smiled at Hua and caressed what was still just a small swelling of her belly, easily hid under her chupa, her grin more than a little mischievous. Hua's face lit up. "Seriously? Oh Kelden, congratulations!" She bent down to hug Kelden again. "Well, I'll be here when this little one joins us, no worries."

"I'm so glad," Kelden said softly, returning the hug. "I'm so glad you went but it's so good to have you home."

"Listen, I had better get down to the kitchen before Mom shouts this mountain down. Tell me, how far along?" She and Kelden hooked their arms together, village style, even though Kelden's head only reached to Hua's collarbone.

"Not too far, only about two months."

"You haven't been sick last like the last time, I hope."

"Just a little nausea, but nothing like last time, I'm happy to report." The two of them walked out of the corridor, Kelden filling her in on the details of her pregnancy.

He stood there, alone, the storm still swirling outside the windows, muting the play of color. "I had something to do with it too, you know," he complained to the air, not expecting an answer.

"You'll have to learn how to balance things," Ba said, coming out of the shadows in the other end. Spirits knew how long he'd been there; Ba wasn't secretive, necessarily, but he wasn't overly worried as to whether or not he surprised people, either. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" He grimaced. "Sorry, Ba, didn't mean to snap."

"Hmmm," Ba said, and came to him. His feet were bare; Da would have a fit. He hated it when Ba refused shoes when it was cold out. "My feet told me that Hua who is not the same Hua is here. And there she was." Hua had been named for Ba; they were especially close and always had been.

"I guess."

"Hmmm," was all Ba said in return.

"Ma wanted you to find Bhuti, it's bath time."

"Ah." Ba wiggled his toes. "She has convinced the air to hide her again." Ba watched him for a long moment. He had a streak of bright yellow paint across his cheek. "Change is not always a bad thing. Even for me."

He shrugged, not knowing where Ba was going with this but not wanting to get into it, either. "Sure." Since when had Hua and Kelden been exchanging all these letters? Kelden hadn't mentioned it, not even once!

Ba's mouth curved up slightly. "Sometimes you are so much like my brother that it delights me." He patted his shoulder. "Come, come, you can help me find your sister and then we will go to the kitchen after Bora has shouted and I can say hello to Hua who is and is not the same Hua in peace. Okay?"

"Sure, Ba."

Ba pulled him in for a hug and kissed him, which both surprised and pleased him. Ba hugs and kisses were not commonplace; he wasn't sure what he had done to deserve either, but he returned them and Ba's teeth showed in his big smile. "I find it best if I let everyone else work it out and tell me when they are done."

"Ba, I honestly have no idea what you are talking about." His father nudged him and they started to walk together.

"Hmmm," Ba said again, peering out the windows to the storm beyond. "Yet. Soon. And then."


	22. Day Twenty-Two: Miracle

It had been impressed upon him, from the time beyond his first memories, that his life had been held in the balance.

Other people, their first memories were different than his. He'd asked his brother once about his first memory; San thought about it, in that quiet, focused way he had about him and told him it was eating plums that Zhi had managed to climb and get from the tree in Uncle Wu's backyard. Not surprising that San's first memory would involve both Zhi and food; nor was it surprising it had involved his second home instead of theirs. San was so often gone when they were small, just like Pearl was gone when they got older. 

His first memory was strangling on his own breath, Mom holding him, Dad's face over her shoulder, fear in his eyes. Not that he'd recognized it as fear then, of course. But he'd asked Dad once if he and Mom had been afraid when he was small and Dad had pulled him into his arms and held him close, not saying anything but saying everything nevertheless.

It had gotten better eventually, of course. He'd learned how to use his own bending to control it, to ease his own breathlessness. Nowadays he recognized the moment his lungs started to constrict and he'd carefully regulate himself. Certain things set it off; the cold, smoke, cats, heavy perfumes, too much dust. Little sniffles that were an inconvenience to others could take him out of commission for weeks. He knew his triggers and avoided them when possible and when it wasn't possible he prepared for the worst. It was, all in all, something he controlled as an adult.

Every once in awhile he'd feel a little bitter that he had to deal with it, this life sentence. But not all that often. He wasn't a bitter man by nature.

He'd been lonely, as a child. San was so often with Zhi and Pearl was too robust, too forceful in her play. He'd often played with Meili, who was calmer by nature and preferred to play with her dolls. He still felt closer to her than the rest, even though as adults their paths had converged so wildly. Meili was a driven woman, focused on her clinic, her childhood tendency towards making things better transformed into her healing. He admired her even if he knew he'd never emulate her.

He wasn't driven, or at least not towards some sort of life path, a career or family. His energy had always been focused on simply breathing. He hadn't cared all that much about school; he didn't dislike learning but most of what books had to teach him held little interest. He wasn't San or Zhi or Iris or even Poppy, the four of them ferocious learners, breezing through school and then university. He certainly wasn't like Sayuri, who was probably the most brilliant of them all but who had never given a damn about school and had failed right out of university, not that she cared. He was smart enough for general purposes, and that was all.

He felt like most of him was good enough for general purposes. He wasn't a great student; he wasn't a particularly amazing airbender. Oh sure, he was good enough; he'd mastered all the tenets in due time and had gotten his tattoos but he'd just been average about it. Avoidance and embracing the path of least resistance was something he was pretty good at, that much he could say. That seemed to come naturally to him; he disliked conflict and generally skipped out on it whenever possible. (Sometimes he still marveled that his mother and sister were airbenders at all; neither one of them seemed to avoid conflict, especially when it came to each other.) Breathing techniques he'd clearly mastered very young out of necessity. Meditation was something he loved. He could spend hours that way, calming his mind and body, letting himself be one with the air, the universe, the consciousness of everything. He'd tried to explain it to San once, how it felt to float free like that. San had listened - San always listened - but he was simply too grounded to really understand what he was trying to convey.

One of the best days of his life was when he and Ginger picked each other. Ginger was Juicy's son, one of the litter of the first calves that Ikki's Blue had had. His cousin Goba had bonded with his Dolly but there weren't any other airbenders up there for the other calves and there were still not enough calves at Air Temple Island. Mom, Jinora and Ikki had talked about it over the radio and decided that Mom would bring up a few of the younger airbenders about the right age to see if any of them connected; if so, they could take their young bison back with them on an airship borrowed from Future Industries. Mom left San behind with Dad and had brought a handful of them up, including Varvara, who had always been a good friend of his. The trip had been a lot of fun; Juicy seemed amused to hang out on the big observation deck with small airbenders crawling all over him and Mom had been happy to travel.

Blue had brought her babies to greet them all and one of them, the littlest guy, the runt of the litter, whose unusually shaggy fur had a yellowy tinge to it had come to him, nosing at him curiously. He'd laughed; the calf's fur looked like the shredded ginger that LoLo used to make him his special tea during the cold months to help keep his chest warm and his airways open. _You look like ginger,_ he'd said, and the calf's long tongue had curled out to lick him enthusiastically and the next thing he knew he was hugging him like his life depended on it and Mom and Ikki were smiling at him. And there it was; Ginger had been his best friend ever since.

He'd only found out years later that Ginger had been so small at birth that Ikki had been afraid he wouldn't make it and both she and Blue had taken extra care to help him thrive. Fitting, then. They were clearly made for each other. Ginger was still on the small side for a bison but he got the job done, just like he did.

He had worried about his lack of connection with the spirits. Sure, he _could_ connect with them; like the rest of the airbenders on the Island he spent a good chunk of time around the portal there, traveling between the two worlds with ease. Unlike his friend Varvara, however, he didn't feel any particular resonance with them. Worried, he'd gone to speak to Jinora about it. He'd always felt closest to her; she was his mother's best friend, after all, and while she was open and available to all of the airbenders he knew she'd always kept an eye out for him. He'd walked with her along the path that led through the temple gardens while she listened to his worries, quiet but occasionally nodding so he knew she was listening. He poured it all out to her: his concern about not being particularly spiritual, about not having some sort of life goals, about how he felt like he was stagnant and while he didn't know what to do about it he knew he didn't want to be like that.

She'd smiled at him and put her arm around him, leading him to a bench where they both sat down. "I've known you since you were born," she said, and gathered him in a little closer. "And I can't say I'm surprised that you feel like you are on hold. Your whole life was on hold for so many years due to your health. I think it's been hard for all of us, not just you, to think of you making future plans and goals, that sort of thing."

"Makes sense," he replied. He'd never really thought about it that way before.

"But that's no way for anyone to live, and I agree, you need something to do with yourself besides just showing up every day."

"Yeah, but when it comes to the spirits I just..." He trailed off, trying to think of a good way to put his thoughts into words.

"You know, my brother and sister live in two other temples that don't have spirit portals. Meelo was never very good with the spirits either and Ikki has her own, unique relationship with them." Jinora laughed a little. "Ikki is a rather unique person. But my point is that both of them are master airbenders and good teachers and the leaders of their respective temples despite the lack of traditional connection with the spirits themselves."

"Huh."

"In other words, Bu, I think it's important that the leader of this particular temple has a good working relationship with the spirits because of the spirit portal here. But my father has never had a particularly good working relationship with the spirits and in fact wasn't able to access the spirit world at all for half his life. My Uncle Bumi was far more spiritual even though he came into airbending in his sixties. All of us, including airbenders, have different strengths. Yours just doesn't happen to be with spirits, and I think that's fine. More than fine."

"I guess if you put it that way."

"In fact I think your particular gift lies with people."

"You do?" He was surprised at this.

"Oh, I do. You take after your father that way. Bolin has always been good at connecting with people. It's one of his strengths. Your father is compassionate and caring and makes people feel instantly comfortable, instantly good about themselves, which is a skill not that many people have. I certainly don't. But you have it as well."

"Do I?" He stared at her. He had never thought of himself as being particularly good with people, especially not compared with Dad. Everyone liked his father.

She laughed then, but not in a mocking way; in a loving way, he knew the difference. "Bu, of course you do! Everyone likes you. You always put people at ease. Why do you think I so often ask you to help newcomers get acquainted with the island?"

"I thought you just didn't have anyone else to do it!"

She sobered as she gazed at him. "No, Bu. And I am sorry that I've led you to believe that. I don't ask you just because there's no one else or because I'm trying to find something for you to do. I ask because I know that you, specifically, will ease the anxiety so many newcomers have when they come to us. You are a wonderful ambassador to people, Bu Beifong. It's something I've been thinking about for a time now, and one I was thinking about discussing with you anyhow. You've just taken that last step for me." She smiled again. "Excellent timing, so thank you."

"Glad to be of service," he said, and grinned at her, and she laughed. "So you want me to be the sort of official greeter here?"

She shook her head, still smiling. "Oh no, Bu. I want you to take it on the road. I want you to find the airbenders out there, the ones we don't know about yet, and make them welcome. I want you, when you can, to bring them home. And when you can't, I want you to make sure they know they still have our support and care. I want you to be my ambassador."

"You want me to travel?" he said, and his heart started to pound in his chest.

"If you feel it's something you'd like to do, then yes. I would." 

"I'm not really good at politics or anything like that, though."

She shook her head. "I have Kai for that. I wasn't talking about sending you to talk to government officials or anything like that. I just want you to talk to people. Find out where there are new airbenders, go and talk to them, reassure them, help them understand what is happening to them. Kai does it when he can but that isn't that often. At this point we still rely mostly on people coming to us, at the three temples that are in working order. I'd like to change that."

"So a recruiter?"

She squeezed his hands. "If you like." Her gaze was level. "You are uniquely qualified for the position. I know you would help people. And I think that's important to you. To help people, I mean."

He nodded. "Yeah. I mean. If I can. I know how it feels to be out of control, to be scared that your body doesn't obey you. I don't want anyone else to feel like that."

She put a hand to his cheek. "Exactly."

He didn't say anything to her about his longing to get away from Republic City and all the people there who, because of their love of him and his history, still tended to keep him wrapped up like precious porcelain. He thought she knew that as well, but being Jinora, found no need to bring it up. She was good at understanding people as well.

That was how it started. He and Ginger, off on their own, traveling the world, going from village to village, talking to people, getting to know their customs. He was smart about it; winters were time to go to the Fire Nation, for example, where the warmer weather wouldn't irritate his lungs. He wished he could just live his life without putting his health first but he couldn't, and that's just how it was. He could choose to live with it or fight against it and he was never much of a fighter.

Not every airbender would or even could go to a temple for training. Sometimes they were too young and their parents refused; sometimes they had families that relied on them or simply didn't want to go. Those people he gave the basics of training so they wouldn't send family members flying across the house, at least. He'd put them in touch with the temples, remember where they were and check in on them the next time he was in the area. Sometimes, despite his friendliness he wasn't welcome, and he learned when to cut his losses and leave. Not everything was going to work out for him and that was just how the world went. He'd once gotten chased out of a village with various crude weapons, the people shouting at him, threatening him, claiming that airbending was nothing more than evil spirits in a person. He'd flown directly to Meelo at that one, carrying a castoff airbending child he'd found nearly starving in the outskirts of the village, shunned and beaten by her own people. That was above his pay grade, as Dad always said. He'd leave that one to Kai. 

Most of his time was wonderful, however. His schedule was always his own, with no pressure to be at a certain place at a certain time. He tried new foods, slept in different kinds of beds, learned new dialects, heard every kind of variation of stories and songs, gladly took messages along for rural folks who had never seen a radio or telephone. He'd fly home and spend time with Mom and Dad and his little niece, Emerald. He'd flown into the desert a few times, looking for San and Zhi, enjoying his time at their camp, the sandbenders fascinated with Ginger, who adored all of the extra attention. He'd visit his grandparents in Zaofu, his uncles at the Northern Air Temple, his cousin Naoki at the Fire Nation court and LoLo, his beloved grandfather in everything in blood, once he and Auntie Lin had semi-retired to Ember Island. He'd watched his little cousin Bhuti for years, talking to Jinora about her, certain that in time she'd be a worthy successor to Kai. He took her along with him for a few years, thinking it would be good for her to travel, to get to meet the people he was sure that one day she would speak for.

Sometimes he'd run across Pearl and that was good, too. It had been hard at first not to judge her for all the hurt she'd caused his parents and her own daughter, but he figured it was a good test for him. His job wasn't to judge; his job was to be accepting and open-minded. Slowly, over the years, Pearl opened up to him, dropped the razor-sharp walls she'd built around herself, reconnected with their family. She was, he thought, the greatest recruitment he'd ever made.

He had always been grateful for his life and now? He loved it as well.

He was finally in balance.


	23. Day Twenty-Three: Sentiment

It had been Iris who had called an emergency meeting of the Flower Garden.

It was rarely Iris who called meetings; usually it was her. Oh, why be coy, it was always her that called them, and usually she had to drag Rose practically screaming and kicking to the old estate at Gaoling. This time, however, Rose had already been packed to go and Poppy had shown up, looking grim, with two bags. _I packed yours,_ Poppy said, and she was so surprised by this that she just stared at her. She'd tried to argue that she couldn't just up and go like that, that Mommy would need her, that her son would need her, but Mommy had shown up at the tram station right then with twenty month old Narin and had kissed her and then given her a firm pat on her behind, just as if she was still a little girl. _Go on, then,_ she said. _See you when you get back. Don't worry about the baby, your father and I will help keep an eye on him._

She'd tried to protest but after kissing her precious boy was hustled on to the tram. She'd then tried to ask Poppy and Rose what it was about but Poppy had just told her that since it was Iris who had called the meeting, Iris was the one who was going to discuss it. Angry, she'd told them both they were being pricks about it but all that had done was prompt tears from Rose, so for the rest of the trip on the train she kept her mouth shut and glared out the window.

The caretaker wasn't waiting for them; instead it was Iris, leaning against the caretaker's car, dressed in a pair of deceptively casual trousers and tunic, actually cracking a smile as she grabbed their bags and tossed them into the back, murmuring something at Rose and giving her a careful hug.

"This better be good if you're going to drag a pregnant woman around," she hissed at her but Iris just shot up an eyebrow and pointed at the car.

"Get in."

"Iris!"

"Let's go." 

She protested, as Iris drove them through town and back towards the estate, but Iris ignored her and Rose started looking tearful again, so she quit. When they got there Poppy and Iris put their bags in the bedrooms they usually used while she went to wash up, Rose sort of wandering around, looking distressed. She was tempted to corner her and try and drag it out of her - poor Rose never could keep a secret - but Iris would come roaring to Rose's defense like she always did and it wasn't worth it. 

Damn, but she was hungry. And her back hurt. And none of her sisters could appreciate how being pregnant felt and she couldn't even go and steal a bottle of wine from the cellar. Instead, she made her way to the bamboo lounge and planted herself in the chair that Iris always liked to sit in and seethed, waiting for her sisters to join her.

"Hey, before we start do you want something to eat?" Poppy stuck her head around the corner.

"Well, that's a stupid question to ask the pregnant woman, isn't it, little Miss Business Degree?"

"Oooookay, then." Poppy disappeared again. "Warning! Orchid on the rampage," she shouted back down the hall, and a few moments later Iris appeared.

"If you are going to yell then get it out of your system, I sent Rose to take a little walk."

"I'm not going to yell at Rosie! I know this wasn't her idea!"

"You going to stay in my chair?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, was this your chair? Is it labeled? Did Qi grant you special, exclusive permission that I was not aware of?"

"Wonderful," Iris muttered, and sat in a different chair. "For the record, all three of us discussed this, Rose included."

"Wait, you and Pops dragged Rose into this?"

"Nobody dragged anybody." Iris sighed. "Just...hear us out, okay? Look, do you really think I'd call this meeting if it wasn't important? Leave my work and all?"

"Hmph," was all she had replied, crossing her arms. The fact that Iris had a point - nothing ever dragged her twin away from work, which she knew damn well - was not making her feel any better about it. "You're all ganging up on me, aren't you?"

"No one is ganging up on anyone, we're all adults here." Poppy came back in, a tray full of food in her hands, Rose following behind. "Why are you in Iris's chair?"

"Do you want a pillow for your back?" Rose asked, tentatively holding one up, and she relented. She could yell as much as she wanted at Iris and Poppy but Rose had always been off limits that way, for all of them. It's just how it was.

"Thank you, Rosie." She smiled at her and let Rose put it behind her back before taking her hand and kissing it. "I appreciate it." Rose smiled in return and then took a seat. 

"Here, eat something." Poppy waved the tray at her. "I'd give you wine but you know." She gestured vaguely at her belly.

"Does this mean you are going to drink wine? Right in front of me?" 

Poppy shrugged. "Don't see why not."

"Well, fuck you, Pops, you little-"

"Could we not, please?" Iris was shooting the both of them looks of death. "Orchid, eat something. Pops, quit antagonizing her."

"I guess you're in charge, then," she sniped, but took the picken and noodles Rose had been quietly putting into a bowl for her.

"I guess I am." Iris sighed. "So here's the thing. We called this Flower Garden meeting to discuss you. More specifically, your marriage."

She slammed the bowl down. "Oh, I beg your pardon. I don't think so." She scoffed. "I do not know what this is all about but as you all know, my marriage is just fine."

"Is it, though? Is it really?" Poppy was pouring herself a glass of wine. 

"Oh, like you're one to talk. What would you know about it, it's not like you've ever had a long term relationship anyhow!"

Poppy shrugged. "Not my thing. But we're not discussing me, we're discussing you."

"Oh, I don't know, we could discuss your good friend the mine manager. What's his name again? Bai?"

Poppy's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Jai. And I loathe that man, which you fucking well know."

"Do you, though? Do you really?" She threw Poppy's words back at her and settled back into her chair, taking up her noodles. She really was hungry. Also, she'd pissed off Poppy, so score one for her.

"Please don't fight," Rose said, wringing her hands, staring down at the floor.

"We're not fighting, sorry, Rosie." Poppy put an arm around her. "Never mind."

"And thank you for the noodles, Rosie-posie." She smiled as Rose glanced up at her.

Iris stood up and started to pace. That didn't bode well. That meant Iris was in lawyer-mode, which meant there would be no real arguing with her. She loved her twin more than she loved anyone else in the world with the exception of her son but Iris had an unfortunate habit of being extraordinarily thorough and depressingly, inevitably correct. Iris turned to her. "You aren't happy," she said. And to her utter shock, Iris's eyes started to fill up. "You aren't happy and you haven't been for quite awhile now and it's killing me, Orchid. It's just killing me."

She made a valiant attempt to shut her mouth which had dropped open. "I...Iris, are you crying?" 

Iris went to her knees in front of her and grabbed her hands. "I'm just so fucking worried."

"But...I'm fine. I mean, I know I've been crabby lately, but this pregnancy and all." She reached out to tangle her fingers into Iris's short hair. "Iris. Iris."

"You can hide it from everyone else, but not from me. I know I'm not there every day but that doesn't mean I don't see it."

"The fact that Rosie and I actually are there every day is partly why I think we were missing it. Or dismissing it." Poppy was serious for once, gazing at her. "It's been gradual, that's all."

"You cry when you think no one's listening," Rose added, still staring at the floor. "And you haven't been doing the usual Orchid things."

"I don't know what you mean," she said, and Rose looked up.

"You don't have any new dresses. You haven't been getting your hair done. You don't pick any flowers from Daddy's garden. You don't even put on any lipstick." Rose's chin firmed up. "I noticed."

Her hand involuntary crept up to her mouth. "I'm pregnant, I'm just tired, that's all."

"You weren't like that when you had Narin." Rose, in her own way, could be just as relentless as Iris.

"Look, I am tired. I'm pregnant with a toddler and still working with Mommy. I'm the first to admit this."

"Don't think Mommy hasn't noticed either," Poppy said. "Or Granny."

"Well, I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up my appearance enough for everyone!"

Iris sat back on her heels and frowned. "You know that's not what we're saying."

To her horror, she burst into tears. "I don't know why you're all ganging up on me!"

Poppy sighed. "Fine, have it your way. We're ganging up on you-"

"I'm not."

"-let me rephrase, Iris and I are ganging up on you. But come on. You can see we're worried." Poppy snorted. "I'm a bitch, I'm the first to admit it. But I am a bitch who loves her sister. And I am worried, Orchid. You haven't been yourself for awhile now. And none of us like your husband."

She scowled at Poppy. "Bullshit, everyone likes my husband. He's a very, very good man."

Poppy rolled her eyes. "A very, very boring man, sure."

Iris glowered at Poppy. "Pops, how about you stop helping. As in, zip it right fucking now." Poppy threw her hands into the air but mercifully shut up. Iris turned back to her. "No one's trying to argue that your husband's a good man. But he can be a good man without being the right man. One doesn't necessarily follow the other." Iris took her hands into hers. "You got pregnant to try and fix it, didn't you?"

"No!"

Poppy made a very unconvincing cough that sounded suspiciously like _bullshit_ and Iris took her hand away and pointed at her without bothering to look at at her. "Orchid. I know you better than anyone else. I know you. I'm not here to judge you, I'm here to help you." Iris took her hand again and pressed it to her heart. "I've never once judged you," she said quietly. "And you know that."

"You don't know what I've done," she whispered in return, and Iris kept her gaze for a moment before nodding.

"I don't need to know what you've done. It won't change anything for me. You should know that." 

"What, did you cheat on his boring ass or something?" Poppy tossed out, and then nearly choked as she felt color suffusing her face. "Oh Raava's pulsating cunt of plenty! YOU DID!"

"Raava's pulsating cunt of plenty?" Rose's eyes were huge behind her spectacles. "You got that one from Auntie Lin, didn't you?"

"From Auntie Opal, actually."

"You did not!"

"Do you MIND?" Iris actually turned around to glare at them and they both shut up again. She turned back to her. "Is the baby..."

"No! I'm not stupid! The baby is his." She started to sniffle. "I'm not Poppy or something."

"HEY!"

"Is this person in Zaofu?" 

She shook her head. "Qi told me I should never shit where I ate. So I've done...well, you know. In Ba Sing Se. When I go there for business."

"Wait wait wait, Qi knew about this?" Poppy was grinning. "This explains everything."

"Why does it explain everything?" Rose furrowed her brow.

"Hey, when Qi is involved I just assume it explains everything." Poppy snickered. "I mean, it's Qi."

"I don't think Qi is cheating on Uncle Mako or Uncle Wu." Rose's scowl deepened. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Pops."

"I didn't say that! I just said that if Orchid is getting advice from Qi then she could be up to anything."

"Shut up, Poppy!" She and Iris shouted at the same time.

"Whatever." Poppy rolled her eyes. "So spill the details. Do you have a lover? Is it anyone we know? And most importantly, was the sex really hot?"

"Poppy, I swear, if I kill you no one will miss you." Orchid took a deep breath and resisted throwing her bowl at her.

"And I'll defend her in court."

"Fuck me, Iris! I'll just shut up, then."

"Oh, what a wonderful world that would be if that actually ever came to pass," Iris sniped, and turned back to Orchid. "I don't need the details-"

"Well, I need the details-" Poppy let out a little screech as Rose smacked her upside the head with an embroidered pillow.

"Thanks, Rosie," she said, and then sighed. "I wasn't having an affair, as such."

"Oh shit, were you boinking half the city?" Poppy started to laugh. "Damn, Orchid. I never thought Mommy's Perfect Little Girl ever had it in her!"

Iris stood up and walked over to Poppy, staring down at her, her gaze icy. "You do not want to piss me off any further than you already have. Do I make myself clear?" Poppy nodded and looked away, chastened. Iris rarely got truly angry, but when she did it boded well for no one. She started to pace again. "People generally aren't having affairs unless they are unhappy with something. You know he's not making you happy, don't you?"

She nodded, and tears started to splash down her cheeks again. Without a word Rose got up and sat on the chair next to hers, leaning over to put an arm around her and handing her a clean hankie. "I just...he's a good man. He loves me, he loves Narin. He's a good husband, a good father. Everyone likes him, even Mommy likes him."

Poppy sighed. "Do you know what Mommy said when I was packing your bag?" Poppy met her gaze. "She told me to find out why you were so unhappy and then she said, and I quote, remind your sister that divorce is legal in this city." Her smile, when it came, was wry. "None of us ever really get anything past Mommy. I don't know why we even try." She came and sat at her feet, burrowing into her. "Orchid. Why wouldn't you tell us?" A little snort. "Okay, fine, I know why you wouldn't tell me. But why not Iris, at least? I'm a bitch but I'm not judging you either. You know I'm not."

She took a deep breath. "Well, it's like you said, I guess. Mommy's Perfect Little Girl."

Poppy snorted. "Oh come on. You know better than to listen to a word I say." She just turned to look down at her, still crying, and Poppy wrapped her arms around her knees. "Orchid. I know I run my mouth but you are my sister. I love you. I am now and always on your side. I don't give a fuck what you do. Nothing will ever, ever change that. Nothing. You know this, right?"

"Me too," Rose said softly, from her other side.

"I just..." She was sobbing now. "I should have been stronger. I should have just made it better. I should have...I should have..."

"Should-of would-of could-of," Poppy said, and kissed her. "What's done is done. You are still our sister. The Flower Garden sticks together no matter what."

"The question is how can we help you." Iris crouched down before her again. "How can we help? What can we do? A divorce isn't an issue, I did that marriage contract."

She shook her head. "I can't divorce him!"

Iris frowned. "Well, sure you can. The marriage contract specifies a payout at the dissolution of the marriage but you aren't worried about that, are you?"

"Whatever it is, we can easily afford it." Poppy grinned. "Seeing as that is my area I can promise you that."

"There's custody of Narin and the baby, of course, but that can all be worked out." Iris started pacing again. "I mean, he could try and make trouble, I guess."

"But he's so nice," Rose said.

"Yeah well, the knives come out when divorce happens, trust me on that one." Iris flicked an eyebrow. "But again, no need to worry about that, Orchid. It'll get handled."

"I haven't even said I wanted to divorce him! It's like you've all decided without me!"

Iris just flicked a hand at that one, continuing to wear a hole in the rug. "If memory serves, based on the years they've been married and the fact that there are children we'd have to pay out five million yuan, Pops. There's alimony as well, but I made sure it was reasonable. No child support, he'll get full custody over my dead body."

Poppy shrugged and stood before seating herself back down on the sofa. "Like I said, not an issue at all. If we wanted to sweeten the pot we could give him a flat in the middle of town." She thought for a moment. "Actually, I'm pretty sure there's a vacancy coming up fairly soon at the Iron Towers. Within the next two months, I think." She tipped her head at Iris. "I can make arrangements to get it for him, it's got four bedrooms, so it's big enough, he can have the children over there." She snorted. "He can decorate it himself, though."

"From a legal standpoint we should actually give it to him outright as part of the divorce settlement rather than having him live there as Granny and Grampy's tenant."

"Yeah, sure. Not an issue. I can take care of that." Poppy and Iris nodded at each other.

"Do you think you can stop planning my life for me?"

"Now you know how I feel," Rose said mildly, standing up. "Your food is all cold. Do you want me to warm it up for you?"

"I haven't said I want to divorce him!" She meant to say it but it came out as a shout instead, and all three of her sisters stared at her. "I keep telling you, he's a good man! He doesn't deserve this!"

Poppy's eyebrow shot up. "Oh, and so you do? You deserve to stay married to a man who clearly doesn't make you happy? Why, because you married him? People change, circumstances change. Shit happens, Orchid."

"For once, I have to agree with Pops. I mean, I don't hate the man and he certainly doesn't deserve poor treatment from our family or anything. I won't try to screw him over legally, if that's what you're worried about. But just because someone is nice it doesn't mean you have to stay married to him." Iris stopped her pacing to face her.

"I just don't have a good enough reason." She looked between her sisters. "To kick him out? To take him away from his children? He loves Narin, he truly does."

Iris frowned. "No one is going to take his children away from him, least of all me. I know he loves Narin, that's clear to all of us. And I'm sure he'll love the new baby as well. But his love for his children doesn't hinge on being married to you."

"Iris is right. He can still love his children while not being married to you." Poppy scoffed. "I mean, what the fuck, Orchid? What does he need to do, beat you into a pulp before you think it's okay to divorce him?" Poppy closed her eyes and shook her head, tsking. "Oh fuck's sake, of course you think that. Orchid!"

"Oh, Orchid," Rose said, her own eyes filling up. 

Iris fidgeted, clenching and unclenching her hands. "Look, I need to go make a phone call, I need to confirm something with my clerk about the contract. Just...I'll be right back. Okay? And then we can discuss this some more. Just...I'll be back." She ran a quick hand through her hair and walked decisively out of the room.

"I'll warm up your food and make some tea," Rose said, and quickly made her way out as well with the tray in her hands. 

"All things considered, Rose lasted longer than I thought." Poppy came over and picked up the discarded hankie and handed it over as she wedged herself into her chair. She took up most of it, being pregnant, but Poppy never had taken up very much room anyhow.

"Poor Rosie."

"Yeah, she should have by all rights been born into a different family." Poppy nudged her. "Iris is probably out bending rocks into smithereens. Phone call my ass."

"She just needs a few minutes, she's upset."

"Yeah well, we're all upset. Me included." Poppy sighed. "Come on, Orchid, don't be a martyr about all of this. It's just a marriage and one you don't even want, even if you can't admit it yet. You're a Beifong. Have some self-respect."

"Fuck off, Pops."

Poppy started to laugh. "Sounds like you were the one to fuck off. Shit on a shingle, Orchid. You asked Qi how to have an affair?" She nudged her with her elbow and despite herself Orchid had to smile.

"Well, what the fuck do I know about it? And anyhow, who else was I going to ask? You know Qi has an answer to everything! And they'd never tell anyone anything, either."

"I mean, how the fuck did you even do it? Was it someone you knew in the city?"

Orchid looked towards the door and then ground her foot into the floor, pausing for a moment to make sure they'd wouldn't be overheard. "You have to promise me you won't tell anyone, Pops. I mean it."

Poppy looked at her and crossed her pinkies over her heart. "Flower Garden swear, it will never go beyond this room to anyone else," she said, face serious, and Orchid nodded in return. None of her sisters would ever break that promise.

"Fine. If you must know."

"Oh, I really, really must."

She put her head into her hands. "I had a wig and a cheap dress as a disguise and I went to a bar in a not so great part of town. I had a hotel room for the night there."

"WHAT!" Poppy was delighted. "Oh get the fuck out of here! You didn't! More than once?"

She nodded guiltily. "Several times. Three different men. Once with two of them." She buried her head into Poppy's petite shoulder. "I cannot believe I am telling you this."

"Orchid Beifong, you dirty little cheater." Poppy giggled. "I never knew you had it in you."

"I know! I know!" She clapped her hand over Poppy's mouth. "Would you shut up before they hear you?" But she was giggling as well. "The sex was so good, oh fuck me, Pops. I never had any idea sex could be as good as that."

"Oh, like we didn't all know Mister What'shisname wasn't just as boring in bed as he is everywhere else."

"He's so terrible in bed. Oh Pops, he asks me permission for everything." She deepened her voice. "Dear, can I squeeze your nipples now?" 

Poppy's mouth was hanging open in horror. "NO. Orchid, no!"

"Yes! And he never lasts. Ever. Once he's inside me, it's never more than a minute or two. I am not kidding." She leaned into her sister's ear to whisper. "I never came once with him. Not once. I always faked it."

Poppy just stared at her. "Orchid, that's terrible. I'm not joking. I mean it. That's terrible." She grabbed her hand and held onto it. "All these years?"

She nodded, and sniffled. "I thought there was something wrong with me."

"Yeah, it's called Lack Of Decent Dick." Poppy shook her head in disgust. "I seriously had no idea. You didn't even tell Iris?"

"Well, what does Iris know about dick?"

"Okay, fair point. But she could still understand shitty sex."

"I just...I tried to talk to him about it a few times but he...he told me that he'd always made his other lovers before me happy, so it must be me."

Poppy stared at her. "Wait. Was he your only lover before you got married?" At her nod, Poppy sat back and groaned. "Orchid. Why?"

The tears started up again. "You know how Mommy and Daddy were..."

"Sure I do. But they're an exception to the rule. About most things. You know that." Another snort. "Or apparently not.

She tried to mop at her eyes. "I know you think I'm stupid."

Poppy's hug was immediate. "No, I don't. I think you probably made a mistake, but if that made us stupid I'd be the dumbest asshole alive."

"True."

"Thanks a lot. You weren't supposed to agree with me!" Poppy kissed her cheek. "You know, one of these days you are going to stop worrying so much about what Mommy thinks."

"Newsflash. We all care about what Mommy thinks."

"Yeah, but you care the most. Come on. Mommy would love you no matter what. And frankly, Granny would probably cheer at the idea that you were carrying on with random men in Ba Sing Se." Poppy blinked. "Come to think of it, knowing Granny, she probably did the same back in the day."

She snorted. "Probably." She sat there for a moment with her youngest sister, grimacing as the baby gave her a good hard thump from within. "The sex was so good, Pops."

"Yeah, you want some more of that, don't you?" Poppy smirked, and rested a hand on her belly where the baby writhed again. "You deserve it. And fuck that husband of yours for making you feel differently."

"Yeah," she said, and blew her nose before nudging Poppy with her shoulder. "So what about that Jai, then? How's the sex?"

Poppy shoved her gently in return. "You don't know what the fuck you are talking about! I despise that man. Hate him. I am certainly not sleeping with him!"

"Yet," she said, and then finally laughed as Poppy let out with a mock growl and pretended to throttle her.


	24. Day Twenty-Four: And To All A Good Night

He had never, in his life, met someone who could run their mouth like that damned Beifong woman.

She'd given him notice she was coming, the way she always did. He had to give her that, at least. After the first time, when she'd shown up in all of her expensive businesswear, with those ridiculously high and delicate heels of hers, she'd come dressed appropriately. Oh, she was still stylish. Her hair was done and her makeup on, her lipstick a glossy red that mirrored her name, her fingernails polished to match. Who named all of their daughters after flowers, anyhow? He'd thought the Beifongs were fond of gemstone names for their daughters.

He'd taken her on a quick tour, the boots he'd borrowed for her clearly too big, simply ludicrous. She'd worn them like a queen, however, obstinate little chin held high. She was an unreasonably tiny woman, not much taller than a child, with a slim figure and dainty hands and feet. And that accent! The Beifongs had been first tier under the old queen and you could hear it in her voice. She just wasn't someone you'd expect to show up at a mine. He'd walked her through, the miners staring at her, and had tried not to seethe as she asked him questions that proved she'd done her homework. She'd stopped to ask Big Chen a question about the process of grading the ore when Chunso swaggered up, chest thrust out aggressively, giving her a lascivious up and down that had no place at all in his mine, damn it. He'd opened his mouth to say something to the man but Chunso beat him to it, sneering at her.

 _If it ain't one of them Beifong little girls. You here to fix shit? Kind of like your uncle did, back in the day, huh girlie? Him and that Great Uniter. Your uncle was a right fucking bastard, he was._ Chunso spat to the side. Most of the miners shifted, clearly uncomfortable, but she just flicked up an eyebrow at the man as she met his gaze head on.

 _Well, there's not much any of us can do about family, is there? After all, your mother clearly fucked a wolfbat and here we are._ There was a dead silence for about three seconds and then the cavern exploded in whoops of delight as Chunso turned a furious shade of red and tried to shout the rest of his coworkers down. And just like that she won them over to her side.

She'd been in his office two weeks ago, going over one of the reports, a slight frown on her face, when she leapt up, scattering the papers and running out the door. He'd blinked and then gone after her, his query trailing away as he saw her standing there on the bare dirt of the courtyard, the metal soles of her boots retracted, her eyes closed. Without a word she shifted her stance, pulled up her arms and then, to his eternal astonishment, sunk down into very earth itself.

"Miss Beifong," he shouted, as the earth swallowed her. "The fuck?" It was then that he felt the ominous rumbling, curses spilling out of him as he ran for the mine itself, the harsh blare of the emergency klaxon starting its inexorable warning. "Where?" he muttered, running into the mine itself, seeing his assistant foreman, Hoon, at the cage, directing miners who were already coming up to the surface. "Where?"

"Section 26 or 27, not sure, maybe both." Hoon grabbed a miner coming out of the cage by the shoulder. "Jin! You're in charge of this lot, get them to the southern evacuation point. You got me?"

"Yessir," Jin replied, and then shouted for her co-workers to follow her.

"How many people do we have there?" His mind was racing as he grabbed a hardhat from the spares that were always neatly lined up near the cage.

"In that section? Not many, only seventeen today."

He threw himself into the cage. "Send me down."

"Boss..." Hoon shook his head and grimaced. "Yessir."

It was the last place he wanted to be, going back down into the mine, but what could he do? That damn Beifong woman had somehow bent herself into the mine and how he was going to explain it to her family he had no idea. Why would she do it? What the fuck was she thinking? Damn stubborn, difficult woman! Who the fuck would go into a mine that was having a collapse instead of out of it! She had no brains at all! No sense of safety or self-preservation! What the fuck did she think she was going to do down here, she was the size of a damn dragonfly!

The cage made its way to the bottom level, where another group of miners were ready to evacuate, one of the newer ones crying but trying not to show it. It was him that he grabbed, shaking him just a little to get his attention. "Wen! Everyone's being sent to the southern evacuation point. I want you to be ready to lead them there. Can you do it?"

Wen gulped and nodded. "I can do it, Boss!"

"Southern evacuation point, everyone," he shouted. "Wen here will lead you there!" He glanced back at Wen. "Where's Jisu?"

The man pointed. "Down there, making sure we all get out."

"Okay. Go!" He closed the cage behind Wen and the rest and hit the button to send it back up before running down the corridor, the klaxon still blaring in the distance, already smelling the rank, murky stench of freshly moved earth and rock, toggling the light on his hardhat. It was dark down here, the power having obviously failed. "Jisu," he called, keeping his tone even and fairly low; no point in triggering another cave-in. He called a few more times before she answered.

"I'm here. Watch yourself." His foreman came into view, grim and filthy, her arm around a miner who was stumbling, clearly dazed, headed towards the cage. "What the fuck are you doing down here?"

"Miss Beifong-" he started, and then Jisu pointed. He looked past her to see that damned Beifong women standing in a clearance she was obviously holding about her, stance rooted and strong, arms above her head. She opened her eyes.

"What kind of leg-humping moronic fuckstain actually comes into a mine that's had a collapse?" She flicked up that galling eyebrow. 

"What kind of damned bullheaded woman sinks through the fucking earth itself to do it?" He was shouting. He shouldn't be shouting. Damn the woman anyhow. He took a deep breath. "How do you propose to get out of here? And how long do you think you can hold it?"

The look she gave him was full of disappointment and he felt an absurd need to apologize. "I'm a Beifong."

He stared at her, apology making its way into incredulity. "That's it? That's your entire fucking plan? I'm a Beifong?"

"It's worked for a few generations now." She closed her eyes and shifted her feet.

"I can't believe-"

"Quiet!" she barked, and he swallowed what he was going to say, his heart pounding. Her eyes opened again and for the first time, he saw worry on her face. "You've still got one person down here."

"Where?"

She moved her head and pointed with her chin. "Alive, but not moving." She focused inwards for a moment. "I can get you to them, but you'd better do it quickly."

"Just tell me where to go."

She took a deep breath and did a sort of move with her hips that in a different time and place he probably would have found very intriguing, but now was neither the time nor the place. An opening ground its way through the tumble of rock to the left of her. "In there. Shout if you need me to enlarge it."

"Miss Beifong..."

She opened her eyes and glared. "I can hold the fucking thing. Now move!"

He moved, quickly making his way through the rough tunnel, the light on his helmet not doing much to dispel the blackness, trying not to choke on all of the dust. There, in a pocket barely large enough to hold him, was Yejun, one of their youngest miners. He was a sickly green color, covered with sweat, not moving at all. "Yejun. Yejun. Wake up." He tried to crouch near him and that's when he saw the boy's arm was at an angle it was never meant to be, caught under a boulder. "Ah fuck. This isn't good." He reached out to touch the rock; there was no way he could move it on his own, he'd need to use his bending. He was afraid to do it, however. He had no room to maneuver, for one, and no idea how stable the area was for another. He wasn't confident that his bending could keep the rest of the rock from smashing the both of them into dust. He cleared his throat. "Miss Beifong?"

"Yes?" Was her voice fainter, or was it just because there was rock in the way?

"He's got his arm caught under a rock. I can move it with my bending, but I have no idea what kind of a chain reaction it will set off or if I can hold it all back, quite frankly."

There was a pause and he wondered if she'd heard him. "Okay. I've got the rest stable. Go ahead and move the rock and get him out of there."

"I..."

"Please, Jai. Just trust me."

He took a deep breath. "Okay. Moving the rock on my three. Three, two, one..." He heaved with his bending, struggling to do it without being able to complete his normal stance. It moved enough that he was able to reach out one arm and awkwardly drag poor Yejun out of the way, the boy groaning, his eyes fluttering. "I've got you, I've got you. I know it hurts, but I need to get you up and out of here. Can you do it?" The boy's eyes closed again and he sagged back down. "Shit." Trying to be as careful as he could, he half-dragged/half-carried the boy back through the opening and into the space where the Beifong woman still held the rock steady. "I've got him, but he's lost consciousness."

She nodded, opening her eyes again. "That's it. There's no one else in the vicinity, your pit boss has already evacuated. You'd better go now."

"But what about you? I can't just-"

"I'm fine. I'll get myself out when you and the rest are free and clear."

"Miss Beifong, I can't-"

"So what's the plan here, hmm?" She scoffed. "Are you going to stand there flapping your gums at me while I just, you know, hold up an entire few tons of rock? Because I have to tell you, that plan can kiss my ass."

"Poppy," he whispered, not even realizing he was using her first name. "Poppy, please."

She smiled at him through the dirt smeared across her face, her lipstick a gritty mess, those dimples of hers suddenly appearing. "I've got this. Now haul up that poor kid and let me do my business. Can you get him to the evacuation point quickly?"

"Once I'm on top, yes. I'll need to carry him, but I can run."

She nodded. "Okay. Then you can help me out by turning off the emergency alarm. Once I hear that go off I'll give you and anyone else a couple of minutes to get there and then I'll come back up."

He wanted to argue with her, plead with her, but there was no point. If she let go of the rock now all three of them would be crushed. Instead he took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll turn it off and then make sure we're all at the evacuation point ASAP."

"Good plan," she said, and closed her eyes again, shifting slightly. "Now go."

He hauled the boy as carefully as he could over his shoulder before making his way quickly to the cage, trying not to think of all the things that could still go wrong. The electricity could give out before they got topside, gas could start to emerge, so many variables out of his control. His luck held, however, and when he reached the top Jisu was there, waiting.

"I'm the only one left. Miss Beifong?"

"I'm to turn off the emergency alarm, and she'll give us a few minutes after that to get to the evacuation point before letting it go."

"Well, we best move our asses then. You take him and get a bit of a start on me, I'll turn off the alarm and follow."

He ran the entire way, knowing he was jostling poor Yejun more than he should but it was the only way. Jisu caught up with him and paced him until they got to the evacuation point, where Hoon had organized them and was distributing water, blankets and bandages. "Is everyone accounted for?

Hoon nodded. "Now that you're here, the only one missing is Miss Beifong."

"She's on her way." _Please let her be on her way._ "Is there a healer?"

Hoon shook his head. "Not yet, but I sent Jin in the jeep to the village for him as well as help. He'll be back as soon as he can." He grimaced. "Here, get him down, I've got some blankets, let's cover him a little, at least."

He had settled Yejun onto a cot and covered him with a blanket and was trying to give him some water when the ground shook beneath them, hard enough to send people sprawling, the noise of it tremendous. "There it goes," someone shouted, and he stood, taking a few stumbling steps before the earth settled back down, a plume of dust billowing into the air in the distance.

"Do you think she..." Hoon trailed off. "Hey now there, Yejun, you just lay quiet there, healer's coming."

He waited, bile souring his mouth, mind racing, scanning the horizon for her, but it was others who saw her first, a cheer rising into the air. He shoved past several miners to get to her, walking towards them all like she didn't have a care in the world. She was filthy, her curls, normally carefully pomaded and styled, disordered, her clothes disheveled. Upon closer inspection he could see what looked like blood soaking through the torn left shoulder of her jacket. "You're hurt!"

She grinned at him. "Yeah, something caught me on the way up. It's fine." She laughed, patting at herself. "I don't think I look my best, though."

"Miss Beifong! You okay, Boss?" One of the miners called to her and she waved. 

"Just fine, everyone. How are you all doing?"

"Right as rain, Boss! You held that all up by yourself?"

She bowed with a flourish. "What can I say, people? Beifongs have a reputation to uphold as well as the rock."

His breath exhaled all at once and he leaned closer to her, his words coming out in a hiss. "You think this is funny?" 

"The fact that we just had a cave-in at the mine that's already struggling the most? Not particularly, no. Why, do you think it's funny?" That damned eyebrow scrolled up again. "I have to say, Jai, that at first I thought you had no sense of humor at all but now I'm beginning to think it's just a weird one."

He wanted to throttle her. "You can't just do that, do you have any idea how dangerous that stunt you just pulled was?"

"I do, yes." With that, she turned away from him to go to Yejun, kneeling down next to him. "It's Yejun, right?" She carefully took his uninjured hand into hers. "Looks like you got a little banged up back there."

"Sorry, Miss Beifong." The boy's voice cracked. "Oh ma'am, all the equipment..."

"Equipment can be replaced, Yejun. People can't." Her voice was gentle. "Now I'm sure there's a healer on the way. We'll get that arm all taken care of."

"Healer's coming, Miss Beifong." Hoon hovered anxiously, which wasn't like the man at all.

"Good to hear." She smoothed Yejun's hair away from his face. "I'll just bet you've had better days, hmm?"

"Miss Beifong, what'll I do? My Ma and my sisters, they depend on me." Tears were dripping into his ears and she pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped at his eyes. 

"You have sisters, hmm? How many? I have three, and they're all older than me." 

"Four of 'em, ma'am. I'm the oldest."

"Four! That's too many sisters." She gazed at him for a moment, still wiping his eyes. Her hankie had what looked to be a poppy embroidered on it. "Now I don't want you to worry about a thing. We'll make sure your mother and sisters are taken care of while you convalesce."

"Conva...what, ma'am?"

She smiled, and her dimples deepened. "While you get better. I don't want you to worry about that, okay? You are a Beifong worker and the Beifong family takes care of their own. I give you my word, you and your family will be taken care of no matter what. Do you trust me?"

"Yes..." Yejun sucked in a breath, groaning with pain. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." She adjusted the blanket a little. "Now why don't you have a drink of water and I'll tell you a funny story about my sisters."

"Ma'am, shouldn't you have some water-" Hoon started, but she caught his eye and shook her head slightly before turning back to Yujen, starting in on what he'd normally find a hilarious story about her oldest sister's perfume getting swapped out for fertilizer spray before a school dance. Yujen had even chuckled a few times during the telling, despite the pain.

"But ma'am, didn't you get in trouble?" Yujen was gazing at her like she'd hung the moon, despite all of her dirt.

"Oh, terrible trouble. Not to mention I don't think my sister spoke to me for a month. At least." She glanced over at the sound of the jeep returning. "Ah, and here's the healer, I bet. Good."

"Ma'am! I just remembered!" Yujen's face fell. "In two weeks we're supposed to have our power disc game against the Blue Hills mine! I can't play!"

"That's certainly true." She cocked her head to the side, thinking. "Can anyone replace you?"

"Just has to be someone who works for the mine."

"Ah, well, that's easily settled, then." She winked at him. "I'll replace you." She leaned close. "I am a very, very good power disc player. One of the best, in fact."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, his eyes shining. "I bet you are, ma'am."

"Well now, young Yujen, what seems to be the problem here?" The local healer bustled up, bag in his hands, letting out a low whistle. "Got yourself in a bit of a scrape, didn't you?" 

She got out of the healer's way, and gratefully took the water that Hoon practically shoved into her face, drinking it down in a few swallows, smiling at him as he immediately refilled it. "Thanks, Hoon. Are there any other injuries?"

"Nothing worth writing home about, Miss Beifong. Plenty of bumps and bangs but nothing that won't heal."

"Good." She turned to him and spoke quietly. "I meant what I said to him. I want to make sure his salary's paid while he's healing. And the mine needs to cover any healing expenses as well. And I guess we need to get a team down there, find out the extent of that damage-"

"No," he replied, hands to his hips. She blinked up at him.

"No? What do you mean, no? I can assure you, the Beifong family will make sure-"

"No, you are not going to do any of this, not no it isn't going to get done. You are going to sit your ass down and drink some more water and let someone take a look at that shoulder."

"I beg your-"

"No. I am the general manager here, and it's my job to see to all of this." He glowered down at her. "Please sit down, Miss Beifong."

She narrowed her eyes. "Listen here, I don't-"

"SIT DOWN," he bellowed, tried beyond patience, and to his surprise, she actually sat, her eyes wide. He took in a deep breath. "Thank you." He turned. "Hoon, can you find Won and tell him that Miss Beifong needs some first aid? I don't want to disturb the healer right now."

"You got it, boss." Hoon took off.

He nodded once, decisively, before pointing at her. "You, sit still, and wait for Won to take a look at that shoulder. I'm going to go and do my job." Running his hand through his hair, he strode off, calling for Jisu as he did.

He didn't see much of her after that; he found out later from Won, the mine's medic, that the wound on her shoulder was just a graze, good-sized but nothing serious. She'd ended up going home that night after putting a call through to her mother, taking the private train car that always accompanied her. She'd managed to leave a note in his office before she left, however, letting him know that she would take care of things on her end and urging him to contact her if he needed anything else from her. He'd found himself oddly disappointed. Not that he thought she should stay; the mine had protocols in place for this sort of thing, of course, and he would have point blank refused to let her be a part of the team that went down to investigate what went wrong. She might be a Beifong and a shockingly powerful bender but she had no actual experience in mining and wouldn't have the first idea what to look for.

She'd remembered her promise to Yujen, however, and had called ahead, letting him know she'd be there to play in the match. She'd shown up in a team uniform perfectly tailored to fit her, lipsticked within an inch of her life, throwing back taunts faster than the other team could manage to lob her way. Yujen, who was sitting in the bleachers with his mother and sisters, his arm securely swathed in bandages, was practically levitating with fervent, worshipful love. She stood down there, cocky as fuck and drop dead gorgeous and shit alive, that woman could, indeed, play power disc. 

He guessed being the daughter of the man who had invented the sport did count for something.

She did things he'd never seen an earthbender do before. She spun; she pirouetted, she practically sailed through the air, moves that flew in the face of all of the traditional, rooted forms. He knew that her great-grandmother, Toph, had created metalbending, of course. Everyone knew that. But he'd read once that her grandmother Suyin had grown up in the newly formed Republic City and he had to wonder how that had influenced her bending. 

About twenty minutes into the game a family arrived, taking their seats on their side of the playing arena. The matriarch and patriarch; a younger man and his fierce looking wife, and two women about Poppy's age. One of them, heavily pregnant, was a true beauty and the other was bespectacled and seemingly quiet. The heavily pregnant one had a toddler with her whom she handed over to the man he assumed was her father. The middle-aged woman turned to say something to the pregnant daughter and he thought he saw hints of Poppy in her dark eyes and the curve of her cheekbones. The mischievous grin on her husband's face was all Poppy, however. Raava fucking save and bless him, the Beifongs had arrived. He was still trying to process this when another woman hurried up; this one absolutely channeling the mother's fierceness despite her clear resemblance to her father, squeezing herself between the other sisters. She was followed by a man who so closely resembled the father that he had to be a twin, escorted by very large Water Tribesman as well as an Airbender Master from the same middle generation and a smiling man who was holding her hand as well as the hand of a young girl and looking absolutely delighted to be there.

He found himself wondering which one of the sisters had been the recipient of the fertilizer perfume.

"MOVE THAT TEENY TINY ASS, BEIFONG," shouted the severe sister, and for the first time Poppy glanced up into the bleachers.

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE," Poppy bellowed in return, shaking her head as she took in her family and then returning her focus to the game.

Their team won, to the surprise of pretty much no one. Poppy was in a class by herself; she could have easily carried the entire game on her shoulders but made sure she was playing as part of the team itself. She accepted the traditional winning fan and then, with a smile on her face, bent herself into the bleachers to present it to Yujen while the entire staff of the mine cheered. Her grandmother followed her, introducing herself to Yujen and his family, chatting to the boy's starstruck mother like they were old neighbors having a good gossip.

"So. You must be the Jai we've heard so much about."

He turned to see the beautiful sister, the severe one at her shoulder, the bespectacled one hovering nearby, looking the other direction but clearly listening. He bowed. "Guilty as charged. And you must be the rest of the infamous Flower Garden?"

The beauty chuckled. "Guilty as charged. I'm Orchid, this is Iris, and that's our Rose over there." The bespectacled one raised a hand in a little wave.

"So which one of you was the one that got the fertilizer as perfume?"

The beauty - Orchid - started to laugh in earnest. "That was me. She was a fucking terror."

"Was?" Iris said with a snort. They all glanced over at Poppy, who was currently being hugged and kissed by the happy looking man and the young girl. "She'll be a fucking terror until the day she dies."

"Good luck with that," Orchid said, patting his arm with what appeared to be genuine sympathy.

He was duly introduced to all of them; the venerable matriarch of Zaofu and her surprisingly pleasant husband; Poppy's parents and her aunt and uncle and their granddaughter, arriving from Republic City on the aunt's air bison. He was getting introduced to the Water Tribesman - who apparently was a very well-regarded healer and who planned on taking a look at Yujen's arm - when a small girl ran up, practically dancing with excitement, to address the aunt.

"Oh, Lady Airbender, does your air bison bite?"

The aunt smiled and crouched down to her level. "Only if you're a melon. Do you want to pet him?" At the child's enthusiastic nod, she laughed. "Well, go right ahead. He likes that. Don't let him sneeze on you, though, or you'll be sorry."

"You'll come back with us, won't you?" The father put his arm around the aunt. "At least for a day or two. Wei and Sitiak said they would."

"Don't ask me, talk to Bolin, you know how his schedule gets. Emerald and I can, though." The two of them wandered off, still talking.

"So, you're the one they hired to bring this mine back into shape, hmmm?" He turned and looked down at the infamous Nuo Beifong. He'd heard stories about her. Born in what was then the Lower Ring, educated, worked as the secretary to the then Earth King, married a Beifong and practically took over Zaofu. She was described as a very intimidating woman.

"That is what they hired me to do, yes."

"And how's that going?"

"Are you looking for numbers, Madame Beifong, or would you prefer a general report?" He was polite, of course. But not deferential. He'd gotten the job because he had the education, credentials, and experience to do it, not because he was a brown-noser. 

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in a way that was instantly familiar. "A general report would do."

He gave her a single nod. "I don't estimate we're going to make a profit this year. The changes that I've implemented are too new for that. That being said, however, the loss will be substantially less than it was last year, even. We've cut the turnover rate from a highly unacceptable rate of fifty-seven percent to thirty-three, which is still far too high but is a notable improvement. The cave-in will, of course, cut further into profit and has hurt production and we're still determining who or what is at fault there. However, since my time here has been relatively brief I won't speculate on the causes without more information. Your daughter and I have been working on a long-term plan that will include an ore processing plant which will boost numbers for this mine as well as the two nearest, but as I said, that's long-term. In short, Madame Beifong, the mine as it stands today has made some fairly radical improvement but the bottom line is that it is not yet profitable. Your daughter thinks the risks are acceptable. Whether you and the Matriarch do is, of course, another thing entirely."

She shook her head. "Oh, my mother-in-law and I have nothing to do with it. The mine is entirely in Poppy's hands. She has full autonomy."

"Miss Beifong is extremely capable and knowledgeable. I have full confidence that she will pull this mine out of the mud if given the time and resources." He might want to kick the woman's teeny tiny ass on a regular basis but he wasn't a fool. He knew by now that she had vision and the business chops to follow through.

Her mother's mouth curved into a very slow smile, dimples appearing in the exact same place as her daughter's. "Oh, I think you are going to do very, very well." She patted his arm much the same way as her eldest daughter did. "You should come to dinner."

He blinked. "I...I beg your pardon?"

"Come to dinner, dearest. You can come with Poppy on her train."

Dearest? Did the woman just call him _dearest_? He glanced in the general direction of his office. "I appreciate the offer, Madame, but now's not a very good time, what with the ongoing investigation and all."

The smile broadened. "Did you just politely decline me? Oh, you really will do, won't you?" Another pat. "Next week, I'll have my secretary send the details. No worries, we'll send the airship, we can have you back to the mine within a couple of hours, you'll be ready and raring to go the next morning, you won't miss a thing." The conversation was apparently over as far as she was concerned and she clipped off in heels as impossibly high as her daughter's.

"That woman just railroaded me," he said to no one in particular and was rewarded with a laugh.

"She railroads everyone." Poppy came to his side, watching her mother with what was clearly affection. "That's what she does."

"She called me _dearest_ ," he very nearly sputtered, and her laugh intensified.

"She likes you, then."

"She invited me to dinner and when I told her I couldn't right now because of the mine she just...just..."

"Didn't hear you? Yeah, she does that." She patted his arm in exactly the same way.

He turned to glare down at her. "What if I don't want to go to dinner with your family?"

"Too late now," she said with a shrug and snickered.

"You know, I really couldn't envision anyone else in this entire world more infuriating than you. Yet there she was."

She put a hand to her heart and batted her eyelashes. "Why Mister Jai, the flirtatious things you do say." She continued to bat her eyelashes as she backed away from him before throwing her head back and laughing uproariously, swinging around with a flare of her hips to walk towards her sisters.

"I wasn't being flirtatious," he growled after the woman, but she just kept laughing at him, damn her anyhow.

Damn her anyhow.


End file.
